It was Rena.

She was just... standing still under the light.

...I wondered how long she'd been there for...

It didn't look like she was going to ring the doorbell.

...She was just standing there.

She seemed to be asking herself whether to ring the doorbell or not.

For how long had she been hesitating in front of my door?!

It looked like even standing was giving her a hard time. She looked very tired.

I ran down the stairs, put my sandals on, and rushed out of the house.

Rena looked surprised to see me, even though I came out after making a lot of noise.

"Rena?!

Is that you?

Rena...!!"

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

She looked relieved to see me for a moment, but then she soon glanced downward and looked sad again.

"How long... have you been standing here?"

"...I don't know.

...Maybe since the sun set."

Rena must've been staying somewhere outside for the last two days at the very least.

And it wasn't like she'd been camping for fun.

...She'd been in a state of high tension the whole time, believing that someone was trying to kill her.

...Rena looked utterly exhausted.

She seemed to have taken care of the deep scratch she made on her neck the other day with some large band-aids.

The band-aids had cute pictures, but that only made the wound on her neck look more painful.

...I saw some band-aids soaked with blood on her arms and body too, and I could tell she made them herself.

She had more scars than she had last night.

"Anyway, let's go inside.

You haven't eaten anything for two days, have you?"

When I tried to take her in the house, she refused with a vague expression on her face.

...It's wasn't that she didn't want to go into the house, it was more like she had to refuse because she thought she didn't deserve it.

"...I can't... take it anymore.

......Even at this moment,

the maggots are moving

through my body.

...It itches really badly, and... it feels like they're about to come out from everywhere..."

"...Rena... I think you have some kind of disease.

...Why don't you get some rest here, and we'll go to the clinic first thing in the morning?

...He understands your delicate situation, so he'll see you in private..."

"No... no...

I know it.

...I know exactly how Tomitake-san died.

...I'm trying not to do what he did for as long as possible."

...Rena believed she was given some kind of suspicious drug that made her claw at her neck to death just like Tomitake-san did.

...She had convinced herself that it was going to happen.

...She wouldn't hear anything else right now.

...But she really wanted somebody to help her.

...She wanted help, but when someone tried to give her a hand, it looked like the hand of the devil.

...If this was some kind of disease, what a horribly depressing disease it was...

"...Well, I...... I don't know how I'm going to die... but I don't think I have much time."

"...That's not going to happen!

You're a member of our unbeatable club, Rena Ryuugu! You're not going to die so easily...!"

"......Ahaha... thanks.

......Well, I...

I wanted to say sorry before I die."

"Sorry?

For what...?"

"...Yesterday, I...... I said terrible things to you, and I hurt your feelings."

She must be talking about last night.

She trusted me... but when Ooishi-san told her about my past, she felt betrayed...

...And after that, everything I did out of goodwill seemed like the opposite to her...

...I know what it's like.

...I once felt the same way about you... Rena...

"Well...... before I moved here...

I did many horrible things, too.

...A lot, actually."

"...Really? I didn't know..."

"What I did is beyond comparison. You just shot someone with a toy gun.

...I hit somebody's head really hard with a metal baseball bat.

Everybody got hurt really badly.

...And I also broke the windows in my school... and, and..."

I know... I know...

But... I don't care about any of that...

You did that before you moved here...

That's why you stopped being Reina Ryuugu and became Rena after you moved here, right...?

To me... you're my best friend who's very kind, thoughtful, and fun.

...That's the most important thing.

I don't care who you were before...

"......So...

I was way worse than you were.

......I have no right to say you're not my friend..."

"I... I felt the same way, too."

"............?"

"...I

...I was afraid of you

because I heard about your past."

"Oh...

You knew..."

Rena laughed sadly...

She seemed shocked to find out that I knew about her history, when she thought I didn't.

"But I was like, so what?"

"...Eh?"

"It doesn't matter how bad you were before you moved here.

...You've been through ups and downs with tears and laughter... but since you moved to Hinamizawa, you've been living a proud life...!

The important thing is that you regret what you did. That's all that matters.

...You've grown up to be a respectable person. I don't care about your past...!"

...I should've noticed it earlier...!

Rena is Rena.

That's why she's Rena Ryuugu.

I couldn't understand that simple thing when she said she wasn't Reina...!

"You heard about my past too, right?

...I was pretty bad as well.

I was such a brat.

I regret the stupid things I did.

...So, I thought moving here was a good opportunity for me to start over.

I believe I've been the person I wanted to be since I moved to Hinamizawa.

Isn't it the same with you, Rena...?

It doesn't matter how you lived in Ibaraki!

The important thing is that you're Rena Ryuugu. You wanted to be in Hinamizawa!

So, I don't care about whoever Reina Ryuugu was!"

"...............Yeah......

Yeah...... you're... right..."

"We can start our life over as many times as we want!!

We might make a lot of mistakes and hurt ourselves, but that lets us become the people we want to be...!

You fall once or twice in your life, but that's life.

We can't let that beat us down. We have to keep growing.

So... I was such an asshole for getting scared of you because of your past!!"

It doesn't matter how many times you fall!

When you go through a lot of pain, you can be kinder to others!

So, I don't need to know your past. And even if I knew, it shouldn't have changed the way I treated you.

But we were fools... We couldn't understand that until we went through things like this ourselves.

...Mion knew that from the beginning...!

We were such fools...

We hurt each other, and we made each other cry...

"So... Rena Ryuugu is and will always be my best friend forever.

When you have to go through a hard time... I'll help you no matter what... Trust me on that..."

"Thank you.

...I trust you, Keiichi-kun."

...It's very tragic, but what she said isn't true.

She probably didn't mean to lie.

...But ...I knew she didn't trust me from the bottom of her heart.

My words didn't reach her.

...I knew that because Rena kept telling me to trust her that time.

...She kept saying those words

while I kept hitting her with the bat...

But they still didn't reach me...

"...I don't think I have much time left.

...But I'll try my best to save Hinamizawa, because wonderful people like you live here..."

No... Rena...

"I'm not going to let them take over this village.

...I'll fight so we can regain the peaceful days we had.

...I'll defeat their conspiracy..."

...She said that she trusted me... but she didn't understand anything I was saying.

...Even if I kept telling her that the conspiracy was Takano-san's delusion, it wouldn't reach her...!!

"...Thank you... Keiichi-kun.

...Thank you for forgiving me..."

I do... I forgive you...

So... please forgive me for what I did to you...

"I'm going to save Hinamizawa, I promise.

......So, Keiichi-kun,

will you help me...?

I trust you, only you, Keiichi-kun.

We can save Hinamizawa together."

"............Rena... Renaaaaa......!"

I knew how bad of a corner Rena was driven into.

...If I was her, I'd be walking around with a baseball bat, thinking every single person around me was my enemy.

...Rena cared about me so much, but I saw her as my worst enemy.

But Rena,

you still trust me...

even when you're driven into this bad of a corner...!!

I couldn't understand what you were saying... I beat you to death while you kept telling me to trust you...!!

But you're different!

You still trust me?

You are......

so......

so......

"...Why... are you crying...?"

"...I'm sorry... I'm sorry......

I'll never betray you...

I trust you, Rena...

So... please forgive me..."

"...I don't know what you're talking about.

...You've always believed in me, Keiichi-kun.

...So I trust you too.

I can trust you, right?

You're the only one who trusts me, right...?"

Tears fell from my eyes.

I sobbed and nodded again and again to answer her.

...Tears welled up in Rena's eyes, too.

Before I knew it, we were putting our foreheads together with tears in our eyes.

"......Well.

I...... found a way to end this battle."

"...Really?"

"Yeah.

......I might not stand a chance, but this is the best and only resistance I can think of."

".........Rena,

I don't know what you're going to do......

but if you do that...

we can regain our happy days, right...?"

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

"We can, can't we?!

We have to!

Or I'm not going to let you go anywhere!!"

"...Ahahaha, don't worry, Keiichi-kun.

...It's going to be a come-from-behind victory, and we'll regain our happy days for sure."

I don't know what she had on her mind.

...It began with a delusion, and it'd end with a delusion.

...If I encouraged her too much, she'd twist it into an attack on her.

I was like that at that time.

...I took Rena's goodwill as the complete opposite thing.

...So, I stopped denying her story.

This was... Rena's battle.

It was her lonely battle. She had to fight against her own delusion.

The more we tried to help her, the more we drove her into a corner.

But I would always be there for her!

Whenever she needed help, she could reach me!!

I wanted to let her know that... so, I said just one thing.

"I'm... on your side until the very last moment.

......No matter what... I'm on your side..."

...Even if I told her to trust me... I knew she couldn't right now.

I knew that... but I told her those words anyway.

Even if she couldn't believe them, and if she tried to smash my head in... I'd say those words.

I'd keep saying them until I die...!

"Thank you, Keiichi-kun...

Everything will be over tomorrow.

...We'll win for sure.

...And then, we can play around in the club together again.

With everyone.

We'll return to our happiest times."

...Although she wished to regain our happy times so badly...

I couldn't get rid of the darkness that controlled her mind...

"Well... I have to go now.

I have to get ready for tomorrow."

To tell the truth, I didn't want to let her go.

...I wanted to stop her even if I had to grab her arm.

But... I couldn't stop her like that.

If I grabbed her arm... she wouldn't trust me anymore.

"Wait, Rena...

What do you have to do to get ready for tomorrow...?"

"...It's a secret.

I might ask you for help later... You'll help me when I do, right...?"

"Of course...!"

I nodded strongly so she could tell that I was still on her side.

But I didn't know what her "come-from-behind victory" meant at this point.

...The first thing I could think of is that she was going to invade the house of the Sonozaki family, which she thought was her enemy.

So, I called Mion to warn her after Rena left.

Mion laughed bitterly and said, "why does everybody want us to be the bad guys so much," but she understood the situation.

"...It'd be easier if we really did act like the bad guys.

It might be better if we tied her down and took her to a hospital."

".........If it comes to that... I guess we have no choice.

But... I want to... believe her.

Until the last second.

She still had the strong heart to trust me no matter how badly she'd been driven into a corner.

...She's not like me!

So, I'm sure she can defeat her delusion..."

"...It's hard for this ol' man to understand what you and Rika-chan have been talking about these days.

Did anything serious happen lately?"

You can say it happened "lately" in a way...

I killed Mion a couple of days after the festival.

"Ahahaha... I'm sorry I've been talking crazy lately.

Anyway... please don't lose confidence in Rena...

all right?"

"You know I won't.

Anyone can catch a cold of the heart sometimes.

It just happened to Rena this time, and that's all!

Well, she has a relatively high fever... But I'm sure she'll get better soon, and we can laugh about this later!

It's not as bad as you think, Kei-chan.

That silly Ooishi admitted his mistake.

He doesn't even know about you-know-what.

So, we'll just say Rena overreacted a little bit, and this will be over."

"Really...?!

You really think you can do that...?"

"Did you forget that I'm the next head of the Sonozaki family? I have both the skill and the power to do that.

This ol' man had a meeting with Ooishi at a restaurant today, and we cleared up all the misunderstandings!

Ooishi was shaking in fear the whole time.

Hey, I'm pretty good, don'tcha think?"

Mion bragged about her achievement, laughing loudly.

...I could tell she was exaggerating a little.

Anyway... compared to the sense of impending doom Rena seems to be feeling... the others seemed to be taking it rather easy.

It was all up to Rena now. If she understood everything... she could go back to the peaceful world she wished for.

We were waiting for her to reach out to us.

Just like we did by the abandoned car at the garbage dump that day...

Rena

...I couldn't win,

...but I know you can...!!

Because you're the one who told me to have faith until the end.

So I know you can win!!

That didn't mean that she could literally win the last battle she was talking about earlier.

But Rena would win.

She'd win, and she'd regain her peaceful life.