Kanade's Room
1
Character icon
Kanade

(No, there's no weight to this...)

2
Character icon
Kanade

(And I can make this phrase sound more impactful...)

Mafuyu's Room
3
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Why did they go with this sound here...? It sounds so muddy...)

4
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Is it to make this particular part stand out...?)

5
Character icon
Kanade

(Okay, this chord works well as a replacement...)

6
Character icon
Kanade

(But it needs to sound sharper...

I have to keep refining it...)

7
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Such a sharp and piercing sound...)

8
Character icon
Mafuyu

(But it's shaking me to my core...)

9
Character icon
Mafuyu

(I still don't understand why...)

10
Character icon
Mafuyu

(What if I altered the bass here and slowed it down a little? That might make it sound more complete...)

A few weeks later
11
Character icon
Mafuyu

It's done...

12
Character icon
Mafuyu

(I copied most of that song, but changed the parts that I thought needed changing...)

13
Character icon
Mafuyu

I suppose this just makes it my arrangement of the same song...

14
Character icon
Mafuyu

(I think I'm starting to get a better idea of what this person felt as they made this...)

15
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Which mean they must be suffering a great deal.)

16
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Like they're at the depths of despair...)

17
Character icon
Mafuyu

(But...)

18
Character icon
Mafuyu

That still doesn't tell me what I want to know...

19
Character icon
Mafuyu

(What was it that I felt?

Why did my chest feel like it was about to burst into flames?)

20
Character icon
Mafuyu

(What am I supposed to do next?)

21
Character icon
Mafuyu

...

22
Character icon
Mafuyu

(It happened again.)

23
Character icon
Mafuyu

(I was sure that this would lead me to an answer, but it ended up being a dead end.)

24
Character icon
Mafuyu

(No matter how hard I try...)

The next day
Asahina Household - Living Room
25
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Hello there.

You've been studying since morning even though it's your day off. Very admirable of you.

26
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

I made your favorite today. Stew.

27
Character icon
Mafuyu

Oh, that smells nice...

28
Character icon
Mafuyu

Thanks, mom.

I'll help set the table.

29
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Also, Mafuyu, have you decided what you want for your graduation gift?

30
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Hehe. The new term started before you came to a decision, so we can splurge a little by also celebrating you entering high school.

31
Character icon
Mafuyu

Oh...

32
Character icon
Mafuyu

I'm so sorry. I'm actually still thinking about it, but don't really know what to get.

33
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Even after I said you could get anything you want. At the same time, I understand that you want it to be something meaningful.

34
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Incidentally, I borrowed a catalog from a friend just in case you needed some ideas.

35
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

For example, a wristwatch.

How does that sound if you're still undecided?

36
Character icon
Mafuyu

A wristwatch...?

37
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Yes. You're in high school now, so you'll be busier than ever, correct?

38
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Which is why I thought this would be nice since you'll need to use your time wisely and efficiently.

39
Character icon
Mafuyu

...

40
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Oh, how about this design?

41
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Isn't it gorgeous...?

It'd be perfect for a young lady such as yourself and you could keep wearing it after becoming a doctor.

42
Character icon
Mafuyu

Thank you...

I don't know what to say.

43
Character icon
Mafuyu

Alright, I'll go with your suggestion. A wristwatch it is.

44
Character icon
Mafuyu's Mother

Hehe. Wonderful.

I'll order it right away.

45
Character icon
Mafuyu

Okay, I appreciate it.

46
Character icon
Mafuyu

...

47
Character icon
Mafuyu

Even after I become a doctor...

48
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Hearing that just makes a certain part of me grow cold and stale...)

49
Character icon
Mafuyu

(It has the opposite effect of that song...)

50
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Despite it having such a harsh and frigid tone, it has this...)

51
Character icon
Mafuyu

(I want to hear it again...)

52
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Oh... They uploaded a new song?)

53
Character icon
Mafuyu

...

54
Character icon
Mafuyu

(The music this person makes feel so cold and painful. I can physically feel their despair.)

55
Character icon
Mafuyu

(It's like... I understand them...)

56
Character icon
Mafuyu

(This person desperately wants to disappear... But doesn't at the same time...)

57
Character icon
Mafuyu

I don't want to either...

58
Character icon
Mafuyu

My arrangement of that song still needs to be mastered and encoded before I upload it...

59
Character icon
Mafuyu

(Look at me. What am I doing...?)

60
Character icon
Mafuyu

(No matter how hard I try, I know that I'm only going to be disappointed. Why am I doing this at all?)

61
Character icon
Mafuyu

(This person...

Are they really having that profound an effect on me?)

62
Character icon
Mafuyu

(But why...?)

63
Character icon
Mafuyu

Oh, I need to give myself a name...

64
Character icon
Mafuyu

It won't let me use just blank spaces...

65
Character icon
Mafuyu

Hm...?

66
Character icon
Mafuyu

It's snowing outside...

But it's spring...

67
Character icon
Mafuyu

...

68
Character icon
Mafuyu

Snow... It feel so quiet and empty...

69
Character icon
Mafuyu

“Yuki” it is...

70
Character icon
Kanade

(That makes twenty songs...)

71
Character icon
Kanade

(Next...)

72
Character icon
Kanade

(I can start working on my next song while it finishes uploading this one...)

73
Character icon
Kanade

...!

74
Character icon
Kanade

Ow... What's going on...?

75
Character icon
Kanade

(I've been getting so many headaches lately...)

76
Character icon
Kanade

(On top of that, my hands and feet keep falling asleep, and I can't concentrate if my ears keep ringing like this...)

77
Character icon
Kanade

(Maybe I should rest...)

78
Character icon
Kanade

(No... There's no time for that...

I can't stop... I won't stop...)

79
Character icon
Kanade

(I'll just take some more headache medicine...)

80
Character icon
Kanade

(Hm...?

A new comment...?)

81
Character icon
Kanade

It's just a URL.

Where does this link go? Another song...?

82
Character icon
Kanade

This person's name is... “Yuki”?

I've never heard of them...

83
Character icon
Kanade

They took my song and made their own arrangement...?

84
Character icon
Kanade

...

85
Character icon
Kanade

(Wh-What is this...?)

86
Character icon
Kanade

(It's so poorly made...

But astoundingly clear...)

87
Character icon
Kanade

(It's pure despair... Wait, no...

It's like they're in world that's devoid of anything.)

88
Character icon
Kanade

(This song has a very unique sound to it too...)

89
Character icon
Kanade

(Oh, interesting...

The chorus sounds completely different when it's arranged like this...)

90
Character icon
Kanade

(They made it so the effects they put in really shine through and give the listener an opportunity to have all these different images pop into their head...)

91
Character icon
Kanade

(This is incredible...

It's even helping me get a better idea of what I should do for my next song...)

92
Character icon
Kanade

I need to get started on it...

93
Character icon
Kanade

I have to put everything I have into these songs...

94
Character icon
Kanade

Finished...

95
Character icon
Kanade

(It sounds a little different from what I've been composing up to this point...)

96
Character icon
Kanade

(But I hope this casts some light on that world...)

97
Character icon
Kanade

(Yuki, was it...?)

98
Character icon
Kanade

Maybe with this person, I'll be able to do more...

99
Character icon
Kanade

...?

100
Character icon
Kanade

H-Huh...?

101
Character icon
Kanade

(Everything's so blurry...

And I'm sweating profusely...)

102
Character icon
Kanade

(Water... I need water...)

103
Character icon
Kanade

I need... Water...

104
Character icon
Kanade

Oh...

105
Character icon
Kanade

(I feel so... Weak...)

Next Chapter: Another Encounter