Chapter 3

……

Yes, I agree: Whether an accident or not… it was Valkyrie’s own fault that you were unable to deal with the mishap in that moment.

There is no excuse; you simply lost.

……

However, Little Bunny-san—Is it all right to call you that?

It’s quite reminiscent of your real name, after all! I’m not all that good at creating my own! Well, please overlook that ♪¹

Anywho! It would be a pity were Valkyrie to collapse under a single defeat, a single failure!

Shu is an equal, a friend I never expected to meet in this lifetime!

Even if we can no longer walk hand in hand…

I would like for him to at least stay nearby! I want to see the production known as his life play out—to meet him with applause and a smile, to watch over him and have him return that care!

Well… It is, at least, a good way to pass the time until our deaths ♪

It is not so simple to find someone who can stand equal to you. Shu was one of those rare, irreplaceable friends.

He was an artist, one who surprised even me at times. It would be a loss to the world should he never make his art again.

I only wish I could have indulged myself even more in the world he created.

For that, Little Bunny-san, he needs you.

…?

Yes, you. You are the one whom Shu grieved, whom he was convinced that he could never meet your equal…

You are the precious someone whom he loved so dearly that he would risk his entire career, his entire life for you.

If anyone could save him, it would be you. I could never do it myself~ I’m not very skilled at such things.

It is a hundred times more difficult to love someone, to heal them and help them recover, than it is to drive them mad and destroy them ♪

Nonetheless, that is my wish for you. It is rare to let someone else do something in my stead—And so I shall entrust you with the tools to do so.

Come now, Tomoya-kun, don’t run away from me~… ♪

Gyah?! Did your arm just get longer?! That’s so freakyyy!!

Fufufu, but all I did was dislocate my joints? Now come on over here~ Little Bunny-san, I leave Tomoya-kun in your care!

Tomoya-kun seems to be quite troubled… So please, help him out ♪

…?

You aren’t busy, are you, Little Bunny-san? So won’t you look after him for a little while~? I’m afraid he’s not very fond of me ♪

This would be more meaningful than whiling away the hours until graduation, no?

……

As he is now, Tomoya-kun is a poor, pitiable child with no particular talent to speak of…

But as his name would suggest, he is a blank slate. I am hopeful that he is hiding unlimited potential~²

And so I would like you to train this child. Of course, I’m not asking you to make him my equal.

…Wouldn’t it be a shame for him to be crushed before he knew anything at all?

Wh–wh—? Why are you just doing whatever you want?! At least take other people’s circumstances into consideration!

Oh, but I always consider the circumstances of others! In fact, I have quite the bad habit of putting my own matters to the side! Ah hahahaha… ☆

……

In any case, this is only a suggestion—I am just tossing a stone out into the river called fate.

Perhaps it will create just a few ripples, but there is a sort of Amazing which comes from that, too ☆

Shu’s path in life is entirely different from mine… but even so, we are similar in some ways. Since, after all, he is my friend.

I’m sure that he does not wish to see you gather dust, a sullen look painted on your face.

So please, smile. If you are not a doll, you are capable of that much.

What human would not smile when they frolic about with children or small animals? So lick your wounds clean, find your spirit, and smile.

……

Even if that smile is merely a mask, others will still smile when they see you.

Perhaps even Shu will once again find his smile—his hope. This is what I ask of you, with all my heart.

And that is how we bring a smile to each other’s faces! Let us make this dead tree bloom once more—Let us make this Yumenosaki Academy a field of smiling flowers!

Let us start from here… together ♪

Shu told me that your smile… was the loveliest in all the world.