...Seven keys were attached to the key chain.

Without knowing which key was the correct one, I had to go by instinct and try every key, one by one.

On average, I'd reach the correct key within 3.5 attempts.

I'd be fortunate if I could open the lock within the first three keys...

And I'd be unfortunate if I didn't.

I had to think of the worst-case scenario: getting the right key only on the very last attempt.

I fought with my nervousness. My head ached from it.

I put the key in, and turned it.

I just needed to repeat that small procedure several more times, but...... I couldn't stop shaking.

...Damn...

Even a three-year-old kid can do something this easy.

...So, am I more childish than a three-year-old?

Whatever. I don't care if I'm clumsy.

...I just need to try all these keys...

...Even in the worst-case scenario, the lock will open on the seventh try...

"......

............No way..."

...Reality isn't always the same as math.

What happened was worse than my worst-case scenario... None of the keys worked at all.

I could feel the blood draining from my brain.

...Did I get the wrong set of keys?!

No. I definitely see a faint marking that says this set is for this door.

...Am I just reading it wrong?

Should I go back to the key cabinet to look for the right one...?

That would mean a great loss of time.

Just by being here I'm already risking so much.

...Something that could ruin everything might happen any moment...

If I can't open this lock, do I have to go back to the administration office?

...If there were no other choice, it'd be a waste of time to spend another second here...!

The administration office wouldn't necessarily be empty at this time.

...Somebody might come in.

I won't be able to look for the right key if that happens...!!

...I stood up quickly, as if electrified.

I was almost in a panic, and so felt the urge to move...

My instinct pushed me.

I have to go back there as quickly as possible...!!

It's dangerous to be here, and it's also dangerous if somebody comes into the administration office!

...I cooled my head,

making it as chilly as possible,

to repress my fear...

Calm down, Shion...

...Mion wouldn't panic in this situation...

Maybe I'm just mistaken...

Why don't I try the keys

one more time...?

The next moment, I felt a faint vibration in the air. Somebody was walking somewhere in the hallway.

If it were a normal situation, I would've known I wouldn't run into them, since the footsteps were very far away.

...But at the time, I couldn't think calmly.

Ah... shit...

Why am I panicking this much just because of footsteps...?

Calm down... calm down...

I should be feeling excited instead.

...Calm down, calm down.

...I just need to do what I have to do.

I should ignore the footsteps, because they're not an immediate threat...

...Pretend they aren't there...!

I have to listen for something much more important right now...!

Ah... shit...

This key should be hard and cold, but...

it's pliable and hot...

it feels like rubber...

How could I stick this into the keyhole?

Shit, shit, shit...!

It wasn't the key that was pliable.

...It's my fingers that were limp.

...Ah... shit, shit, shit...!

The key sprung out of my hand and fell to the floor.

It shouldn't have made any sound

because it was so pliable, but...

it made a tremendous metal noise as if somebody pushed over a cupboard.

Cliiinnng!!!

The sound almost stopped my heart.

I felt dizzy for a while.

I looked around afterwards to carefully see if I caused any disturbance to the surroundings.

Calm down, calm down...

Nothing's changed.

I don't hear anything...

So... am I safe?

Calm down... calm down, calm down...

Wait... I don't hear anything?

What about those footsteps in the distance?

Calm down, calm down, calm down...!

Are they looking for me after they noticed the sound...?

Ah, shit... What is that sound I'm hearing? Is it my sweat dripping on the floor?

......Shut up, shut up, shut up...!

How could I hear the sound of my sweat?

Calm down,

calm down, calm down...

Calm the fuck down...!!!

I have to clarify.

This isn't a prison or a detention center.

It's a private school.

Not a normal one, though.

It costs a fortune just to get in.

It's a boarding school that provides education from elementary school to university.

Being for girls only, rather than a school, you could say it's a factory that manufactures 'ladies.'

Some of my classmates here have never even used public transportation.

...Really, it isn't normal.

To me, saying "how nice to see you" instead of just "hi" is already insane,

and calling the teachers "sisters" gives me the creeps.

I hate the morning and evening prayers, to say nothing of the Sunday mass.

I don't want to memorize the Bible passages, and the Holy Ghost gives me a rash.

If I stayed in this institution (that's what I call the place) for many years, I'd either go crazy or be brainwashed.

Most of the girls choose to be brainwashed, but...

I can't do that.

...After all, I was more impressed by the political schemes and international trade behind religious propagation than by the love of God which the Bible teaches.

Because of that, I'd been treated as a problematic child from the beginning.

...I experienced lots of disadvantages as a result.

I realized that quickly, so I superficially pretended to be normal.

However, I got tired of acting, so I started to reveal my true self from time to time.

I became a problematic child once again.

People started to treat me differently once again.

It's fun to misbehave.

...But it wouldn't do anything for me in the long run.

...So, why did I act that way?

Why, even though I knew it was going to backfire on me later on?

......After examining my emotions, I realized that I'd completely had it with my surroundings.

I was afraid of being brainwashed in this institution.

I can't live here.

I won't let them brainwash me!

Six months ago, I decided to escape this place.

The moment I made up my mind, I started to feel alive again.

I acted ladylike in order to deceive the sisters.

Pretending became fun once I'd set my goal.

It gave me the creeps when they told me with smiles that it was God's influence that I started to behave religiously.

I laughed at them behind their backs.

I took on my classmates' duties in order to understand the layout of the school, and the schedules of the staff and guards.

...I soon found out that the security of the school was immensely tight, because there were many daughters of important people living there.

The guards walked their beat randomly. There were surveillance cameras everywhere.

The system that kept out intruders ironically also worked to prevent escapees.

But... that excited me instead.

I simulated how to avoid all the surveillance in my head many times.

I drew an escape route in the corner of my notes during class and tested if it worked.

I strove to acquire any necessary skills for the escape.

It was all fun.

...After all, the situation was cathartic for me.

That's who I am.

No matter how hard they tried to brainwash me, I'd never change.

I'd been waiting for the moment of my escape, preparing physically and mentally.

First,

I needed the courage to escape.

I had to be confident of the plan.

I had to think deeply about it.

I also needed skills and physical strength.

...I imagined all the possible obstacles and trained myself.

(It was funny because I was finally able to enjoy gym classes,

even the long-distance runs.)

I needed a perfect plan, as well as the physical strength and skills necessary to execute it.

Also, supported by those things, I needed determination.

I made sure that I had all I needed, and executed the plan.

I decided to plant a seed in school before the appointed day.

The seed was a rumor that one of the male teachers was having a relationship with a student.

I won't go into the details now, but that can turn into an enormous problem in this school.

......The school is limited to girls precisely because their parents want to avoid those kind of problems.

Those parents are mostly important people from various positions.

If the romance was a fact and was leaked to the public, the principal would have to commit suicide in shame. In fact, even that might not be enough.

In the world of girls, rumors spread fast.

Especially when they're separated from boys and are obsessed with dirty thoughts.

So, this kind of rumor goes around really quickly.

The sisters try to get rid of that kind of rumor, and they warn the students not to be swayed by it.

But apparently, they're the ones who are most swayed by those rumors.

This means that I managed to make them furtively deal with something shady, without contacting families or the authorities.

So, if I disappeared in these circumstances, it'd look like I ran away with some teacher.

All the male teachers would deny it, of course.

However, the school wouldn't believe what they said so easily.

...After all, there's a dirty rumor going around.

By the time the school finds out about my escape, after they eliminate all the other possibilities...

I'll be somewhere safe...

I tried hard to spread the rumor that I was involved in the forbidden romance as widely as possible.

The sisters questioned me a few times, but since the romance was something I'd made up, they couldn't find anything.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find any evidence.

After three months, I was certain that I created a solid foundation.

I swapped after-dinner duties with my classmates so that I could adjust my schedule on this day.

I was even able to fill them with suspicion about me by doing that.

Now they'll definitely suspect I ran away with some male teacher.

Tonight was the night.

I began my chores after dinner.

After lights-out, somebody will find out about my disappearance.

My generous roommate would probably wait about ten minutes before she reported me to a sister, but no longer than that.

I had about an hour tops.

But that's enough for me......!

I took a step off my regular route.

That was the first step toward my great escape.

I calmed down and thought...

The key shouldn't be wrong.

...This lock is old and firm.

Isn't it possible that I put the right one in, but the lock was just stiff, and I only thought I got the wrong one?

I realized that my nervousness was making me clumsy.

The gloves that I'm wearing to avoid leaving fingerprints must be getting in the way, too.

......I should try the keys one more time...

...I picked the most probable one, and gently inserted it into the keyhole...

...It's stiff.

...If I twist it too strongly, I might break the key.

The moment I thought of giving up, I felt something in my fingertips......

The key worked!

I slowly opened the door.

I could hear the crickets.

I don't have to hesitate now,

but somehow I'm reluctant to step outside.

I can still make excuses up to this point.

It might look awkward, but I still can.

......But if I take a step outside now, there can be no excuse.

If the guards find me, they'll take me to the office immediately.

There have been escape attempts before.

...That's not really so strange.

I don't think I'm the only heathen here.

It's understandable that there have been people before who couldn't fit in this place.

So the school is well aware of the possibility of escapees.

...I've heard rumors about what happened to those who were caught while attempting to escape.

...I don't want to believe any of those stories, though.

...You see, all the school's horror stories involved students who attempted escapes.

...Whatever... Bring it on...

I'm not expecting to get a second chance anyway.

...There'll always be only one chance.

Things get serious beyond this door...!!

I psyched myself up and... pushed the door open.

A strong smell was hanging in the air.

Is that normal for the outside?

I'd never smelled this strong grassy smell before.

Is there something going on...?

Do I have to be wary of it?

Should I go back and wait for another chance...?

......That's silly.

There's nothing strange going on.

This smell is something I smell every day.

...I just wasn't aware of it.

It's true, isn't it?

Even though I pretend to be cool, I'm nothing but a nervous wreck...

...Calm down...

Calm down, Shion...!

I can rely only on the map inside my head from this point onward.

I'd researched the locations of all the surveillance cameras.

...I'm confident that I'll be able to avoid all of them,

but I'm not sure about the guards.

They pick their patrol routes randomly, after all.

I have to take a chance.

I can hide myself in most places...

But there's an area where there's nowhere to hide for several meters.

I concentrated to keep my senses keen.

......Well, I have to depend on my luck in the end.

Even if I do my best, the guard might find me by mere chance.

On the contrary, I might be able to get away no matter how unwisely I choose to move, if I'm lucky.

......Damn. After all that effort, it just boils down to luck?

Aha ha. This is a gamble after all.

When I realized that, I got excited.

Yes, this is a gamble.

I'm trying my luck.

This is a game to test the determination to change my life.

If somebody failed to escape from this school, that meant they didn't have enough luck to survive in the real world.

But I'm different.

I'm going to get out of here.

I'm testing my luck.

Here goes, Shion!

I ignored the noisy bugs and concentrated only on suspicious sounds.

......I heard no threats...

...The loudest sound wasn't the bugs--it was my own heartbeat.

Crunch.

...Even my own footsteps were so loud they could break my eardrums...

With each and every step, my overactive imagination tormented me with premonitions of unexpected run-ins with guards.

Countless times that torture grew too hard to bear, and I thought of running.

...But if I broke into a run, the noise I made would only draw suspicion.

If anyone heard running at a time and place where people shouldn't be, they would realize something abnormal was happening.

But if the footsteps they heard were just walking, then they'd likely think nothing of it.

Of course, I don't plan on even letting them hear those footsteps.

I tried to extend my senses to get as much information as possible.

I didn't sense anyone's presence.

......I might have felt safer if I heard a guard in the distance.

I'm worried that my senses might not be keen enough to detect everything.

Somebody might be right behind me... without me being aware of it...

I didn't want to make any noise, so I stopped from time to time.

...It's like I'm constantly fidgeting...

To stop or to run...

something within urged me to choose from either one.

I can't choose to stop.

I have to keep going quickly and stealthily.

...I'm already risking so much just by being here.

Running, of course, would be absurd.

...Ah, I know that......!

The urge to run continued to bug me.

My head was filled with those thoughts as I went through this dangerous territory.

I succeed in passing through without running into anybody.

...I couldn't help but sit for a moment and exhale the rotten air from my lungs.

......My negative thoughts vanished quickly.

......Just a little more to go.

...Just a little more!

Just through that bush over there is the fence that separates this place and the outside world.

Once again, I strongly felt the urge to run.

...I suppressed that desire and carefully tackled the final step......

The beautiful-looking fence didn't seem designed to prevent escapes.

While I was worried that somebody might see me climbing up the fence, it fortunately didn't happen.

It's even possible that this fence might have a touch sensor.

...It's too late now.

It doesn't mean anything now, since I'm already climbing up.

From the top, the fence seemed about seven feet high.

I have to go down carefully, just like when I climbed up.

......I knew that logically, but I couldn't think that way anymore.

I chose to jump off with no hesitation.

Of course, I regretted my decision during the fall.

I got scared because the flight was longer than I expected.

I didn't land beautifully. I fell onto my butt.

But there was nobody around to laugh, and I didn't have time to be embarrassed.

I looked around to see if anybody heard my landing.

Even the crickets weren't interested in the sound I made. I felt relieved...

I looked at my watch.

...Five minutes till 8 PM.

...It was just a fifteen-minute escape.

Putting a number to it really made it obvious how short it had been.

Looking back, most of the time I was just asking myself questions and hesitating.

......I guess I worried too much.

But I can't be too relaxed just yet.

There's no guarantee that I fooled all the cameras.

This place isn't a bank.

There won't be a fire alarm going off even if the guards did see me.

It's possible they're rushing this way right now.

I can't enjoy the air of freedom yet.

I hid myself in the darkness and waited.

There's still time left until the rendezvous.

I watched the school premises while waiting, but it looked like nothing strange was going on.

The building was lit up, and the beautiful Western-style architecture made it hard to believe that it was a school.

......It should be armed with electrifying wires, searchlights, and guard dogs, like the prison it is.

I thought I'd experience a surge of school memories in a situation like this,

but it didn't happen.

That sort of thing only happens when you have good memories.

I have no good memories of this school, so there's nothing to remember.

...But if I could pick a series of images to recall, it'd be the luxurious dinners we had every night.

So, my memories would be nothing but international cuisine: Japanese, Chinese, French and so on...

......What the hell?

That's just too funny.

I burst into laughter.

...At that point, I heard a car approaching.

I crouched in the darkness.

The plate number is the same as I was expecting...

That's the car.

I jumped out and rushed to the passenger side, then opened the door and got in.

"Nice to see you,

Shion-san."

The driver was a man of early old age.

......He'd be angry if he heard me say that, though.

He thinks he's still middle-aged.

He looked at my face and learned that I succeeded. He smiled.

"Ah, the air feels so fresh!

I wanna eat a burger for a start!"

"Aha ha ha ha!

...I heard they serve excellent food in the school, but...

I suppose you were served nothing but gruel, huh?"

"No way, dumbass!!

I was just kidding.

Step on the gas if you have time to laugh at me!"

"As you wish..."

Kasai really did laugh out loud. After telling me to buckle up, he accelerated.

The cathedral-like school disappeared from the mirror in an instant.

It disappeared so quick that I didn't have time for a surge of dinner memories.

Goodbye, my lovely school days!

Ha ha! I'm going to fill my stomach with junk food from now on!

I'll forever be free from the table manners you taught me!

Aha!

Serves you right!

As we drove, the scenery began to change.

Soon we were surrounded by vast fields of crops and few streetlights.

It reminded me that this was just the countryside of Japan, not Europe.

"Are you hungry?

Would you like me to stop somewhere to eat?"

"That's okay. I already ate."

I lied.

I'm actually a bit hungry.

I didn't eat much at dinner to avoid slowing myself down with a full stomach.

I appreciated Kasai's offer, but I didn't feel like taking the time to eat while we were still in enemy territory.

"It's late, so you'll find only vending machines at the highway rest stops...

Oh, I've heard there are hamburger

and oden vending machines nowadays."

"Huh?!

What the hell?

Will that dispense a cup and the ingredients, like a coffee vending machine...?

That's gross!"

"Aha ha, I don't think it's like that.

It usually comes in a can."

"...Uh, sorry.

I can't stand canned food."

"Still...?

I thought you might have grown out of it."

"...I haven't because I can't.

Shut up.

Why are you laughing?!"

Kasai chuckled.

He must have been trying to help me relax.

...He isn't usually so talkative.

"I'm exhausted.

I'm going to get some sleep...

How do I recline this?"

"Look for the lever on the lower left part of the seat.

Can you find it?"

"Oh, here it is......

Here I go."

Kasai laughed again.

"Did I do something funny?"

"No...

It's just that the way you talked sounded like Mion-san."

...Well, obviously.

Mion and I are identical twins.

We're perfect copies of each other.

When I react to something, so will Mion.

When Mion reacts to something in a certain situation, I'll react the same way.

"How's sis?"

"I believe she's fine.

I only see her when I bring your father to the family councils."

"That's right, she doesn't live in our parents' home anymore.

She's living with the hag in Hinamizawa now, isn't she?"

"She moved into the main house around the same time you started going to that school."

...I responded with disinterest even though I was the one to ask about her in the first place.

The main house is where Oryou (the current leader of the Sonozaki family) lives.

That's my grandma, who I call a hag.

......But when we use the phrase 'the main house,' that usually means more than just a dwelling.

What Kasai refers to is the same thing.

"...Did she change?"

"You mean Mion-san?"

"Yeah...

I think she has to have changed if she's living so closely with grandma."

Kasai chuckled yet again.

He knows I hate my grandma.

"I haven't noticed any changes...

She's still the Mion-san you know."

"What about me?

...Did I change?"

"No,

not at all."

Kasai responded quickly with a smirk.

......I haven't seen him for a while, though. It's not fun if he answers this quickly.

I glared at him... and then he burst out laughing.

"Aha ha ha!

You haven't changed at all.

That's admirable, since you've been in such a strict school for so long!

Heh heh heh heh...!"

"Damn it...

Laugh as much as you want!

I'm going to sleep!"

"There's a blanket in the back.

Please make use of it."

"Um, thanks."

I grabbed the blanket and rolled up in it.

I'm exhausted, but I can't go to sleep. It's strange.

Or maybe not.

I must be tired from the escape.

It's just that I'm still feeling tense.

So, I have to declare it once again, if only to calm myself.

"I'm sleeping!

I totally am!"

"All right. It's the third time you said that.

Do I have to give you permission to sleep?"

"You're talking too much!

I can't go to sleep if you don't quiet down!"

"I apologize, princess.

I'll keep quiet now...

Heh heh heh...!"

This interaction with Kasai reminded me of the old peaceful days in Okinomiya.

Well, I don't really know if I can call those days peaceful.

We were in the middle of the dam protests back then, after all.

We all united together, and now that I think about it, we pulled a lot of pretty dangerous stunts.

If the authorities ever find out what I did, I'd never escape going to juvie...

...Well, at least half the people in Hinamizawa would be off to prison.

We didn't think of them as criminal acts, though.

It was a war.

It might also have been a festival.

A festival where every person in Hinamizawa joined together in protest.

It was a struggle, but it was also fun.

It was fun to throw stones at the riot police with everybody.

We hid ourselves in somebody's home when they chased after us.

We'd even go crowd around the police station, demanding the release of our arrested comrades.

When we snuck into the construction site and sabotaged it, it felt more like we were playing at war than conducting one.

I got so excited back then.

...I felt united with my fellow members, even though they were strangers to me, and that memory warms my heart.

Yes, the way it felt back then... was like helping everyone to carry a sacred palanquin through the village, getting all sweaty and exhausted together.

...Until we all collapsed face-first on the ground, and shared our excitement and cheers with unfamiliar faces over tea.

I was just a kid back then.

I remember accompanying young men who worked for my dad out to the village to do various bad things.

I was arrested a few times.

It didn't feel any different, though, than when I was called to the teacher's office for forgetting my homework.

......The other villagers were furious about the dam project,

but for those of us who were kids at the time, it's a pretty fun memory.

All that came to a sudden end a few years ago.

It wasn't only the power of the protest that ended the dam construction project.

The Sonozaki family and my dad's organization had worked secretly in the shadows.

...This is top-secret information in the Sonozaki family, but...

it's said they may or may not have kidnapped the Minister of Construction's grandson...

in order to blackmail him.

The grandson was found a few days after the abduction.

......He was found in the mountains of Yagouchi.

He didn't simply disappear,

and he wasn't demoned away.

That means some kind of deal was made secretly.

A year after that, the dam construction plan was halted indefinitely.

The police suspected the villagers' involvement and investigated,

but they couldn't find any leads.

The villagers never betrayed each other.

They'd do anything to protect their fellow man.

......They fabricated fake alibis and fake evidence...

...It was easy to deceive the police...

Guh!

The car suddenly shook, snapping me out of it. It must have run over a bump or something.

......I suddenly realized my expression was a very happy one for some reason.

...Ah.

I must be looking forward to going home.

"Shion-san...

Are you awake?"

"......What is it?"

"Would you like me to take you to the house in Okinomiya?"

"Where else would you be taking me?"

I answered straightforwardly with a frown.

Kasai, then, also chose to reply straightforwardly.

"It was the family head who decided on your enrollment in St. Lucia,

and you ran away from there...

You do understand the situation you're in?"

"The school grandma chose didn't fit me, that's all."

"...Shion-san."

"...I know, I know.

Shut up."

As the head of the Sonozaki family, the hag's decisions are absolute.

...They're nothing like, say, the three-second rule.

Worse, the decision to confine me to an academy far away from the Sonozaki family... was made before I was even born.

'Shion'

was the name they gave me...

My sister 'Mion' has a character that means 'demon' in her name.

That was to signify that she's the successor of demons.

In other words, she would be the successor to the Sonozaki family and its demonic bloodline.

My name, 'Shion,' has a character that means 'temple' in it.

This means that I was destined to take the veil and be confined in a temple.

Thinking of that reminds me how much I hate this name of mine.

For starters, the person known as Shion is an abominable being to the Sonozaki family.

Because it meant the family had two heirs.

...I don't have to cite the countless historical examples to explain. It's easy to imagine how that could prove troublesome for succession.

According to our long-held family traditions,

one of the twins was to be strangled to death right after birth.

Unbelievable, isn't it?

What that means...

...Is that I have to be grateful just to be alive and breathing to this day.

I heard the hag actually put her hands around my neck right after I was born.

...I don't know what exchange took place in that moment.

Maybe some brave relative of mine managed to get her to stop.

Or maybe she was in an extremely good mood that day.

(Then don't try to strangle me!)

We're twins.

There are no apparent differences between us.

But the first one out of my mom's stomach was named "Mion," and the second one drew the short straw and got named "Shion."

Everyone else was desperate to tell us apart, but we sisters just found that awfully ridiculous.

There wasn't any difference between us.

No one could tell us apart, even if we only swapped hats.

We wondered why all the grownups were trying to see the differences.

Well, our fun as twins didn't last forever.

One day, they created an undeniable, clear distinction between Mion and Shion.

Mion went to the main Sonozaki house to live with the hag and to learn how to become the successor.

And I was to be confined at St. Lucia's.

...I have no objections to Sis's inheritance.

I used to be jealous,

but now I feel that having to learn about and follow the traditions would just make me tired. I even feel sorry for Mion.

So, I'm not going to be a threat to the family even if I'm back in Okinomiya.

But... the hag doesn't seem to think that way.

She thinks of me as some kind of evil omen.

...That's why she wanted to keep me away from her.

That doesn't matter to me...

I don't want to see her face either.

I don't care if she doesn't allow me to enter Hinamizawa.

She can charge me 10,000 yen per step I take there.

But I want her to let me live in Okinomiya, where I grew up.

When I was little, I was in Hinamizawa, but I don't remember it much

and I'm not very attached to it.

I do have good memories of my elementary school days in Okinomiya.

The town isn't very sophisticated, but I kind of like it there.

"If you go back to Okinomiya, somebody from the family will notice you,

and then they'll report you to the main house."

"Are you worried that grandma will hear about me?

......Ha ha ha, that might be a problem."

"......I hope you understand the situation."

"......What, Kasai?

...Are you telling me to go back to that awful place?"

"No.

I'm not.

What I'm trying to say is..."

"...You want to know whether I'm prepared or not?"

"I just hope you understand what might happen."

"Well, I know what you mean.

You'll be held responsible for helping me escape if things go bad, right?

You should caress your pinky finger while you can, Kasai, before they take it away from you...

Heh heh heh!"

"You should look forward to being rolled up in a futon mat and thrown into the Onigafuchi Swamp, in that case.

Ah, maybe they'll send you to the torture room in the garden."

I heard there's a big torture room in the main Sonozaki house.

I've never seen it, though.

I heard they used to torture and kill the enemies of the village in there...

...It's just awful, really.

I hope I don't end up as a victim of that place.

"Okay, okay.

Everything's going to be all right.

Ahahahaha."

"You really resemble your mother.

In the way you take chances, I mean."

"That's normal. She's my mom.

Ahahahahaha."

My dad and mom will be furious if they find out about my escape...

I'm more afraid of them than of the hag.

I don't want to go into the details, but my dad is part of the yakuza.

He's in charge of the organization which covers the Shishibone area. He's in a very important position.

So is Kasai here.

He's an old friend of dad, who really trusts him.

I don't know if this is true, but I heard Kasai used to be very aggressive, though he's gentle now.

I also heard he has tons of scars.

He was in charge of a few large areas, but after he was injured badly in a fight, he retired. Now he's my dad's consultant (a.k.a. a drinking buddy).

He was my caretaker in my childhood, and now I feel like he's my butler.

At first, I thought my dad asked him to supervise me, so I hated him.

But in time, I started to feel like he was on my side.

...This is just a hunch.

...But I think Kasai used to be in love with my mom.

My dad, mom, and Kasai were in a love triangle.

Though my dad took the lead in the end.

Kasai couldn't leave my mom entirely, so he stayed around as my dad's friend.

I can tell that

from the way he acts...

He's seeing my mom in me.

That's why he says I look like my mom every now and then.

It kind of gave me the creeps at first, but he isn't a bad guy at all.

...He's actually pretty funny. I only found that out after I got used to him.

So, when I thought about escaping, I naturally turned to him.

I contacted him in an early stage of my plan and arranged to meet him today.

You could call him a conspirator.

...It's not surprising he's worried about my return to Okinomiya.

Considering the rules and traditions... cutting off his pinky finger isn't too far from reality.

Ahaha. I might be rolled up in a futon mat and thrown into the swamp for real, too.

Even so, there's only one place for me to return.

I'm going to Okinomiya, and nowhere else.

That's my hometown.

...This might be a kind of homesickness,

but I don't care what it looks like.

"So, what are you going to do?

The Sonozaki family is everywhere."

"Well, I'll lay low for now.

If somebody sees me, I'll tell them I'm Mion.

Ahaha!"

"Then what?"

"Then, after things calm down a little bit, I'll start talking to my closest relatives.

I know they'll be on my side.

I know some people who covered for me when I had a fight with my dad once."

"I see.

You're trying to create a fait accompli so that the Sonozaki main house will have to accept you later on......?

I hope that works."

"It will!

There were many people who were opposed to the idea of enrolling me in that school.

That decision was obviously made because of the hag's hatred toward me...

Don't you agree, Kasai?"

"......Well, yes...

I thought that decision was excessive."

"She couldn't make the right decision because she was suffering from menopause!

All the fuss surrounding the dam protest drove her nuts!"

Kasai smiled.

I couldn't go to sleep after all, even though I was rolled up in a blanket.

Even though I told Kasai to shut up, I kept talking to him.

......In time,

I got tired of talking.

As I could feel the car run smoothly on the highway. Kasai spoke to me again.

"Shion-san...

Look."

"..............."

I was so tired that I ignored him.

...I wondered what he wanted me to look at, but I wasn't that interested.

Yet I opened my eyes slightly and saw a sign quickly pass by.

Kasai probably wanted me to see that sign.

It had an illustration of azaleas around the letters that said--

'Welcome to Shishibone City.'

My hometown is coming right up.