1. "Hm?"
2. "Hey, harumin."
3. "This is like, a totally serious question."
4. An earnest question - straight from the heart
5. "...what would you do?"
6. "..."
7. "If, let's say,"
8. "That popsicle suddenly started talking and said,"
9. ""I love you, harumin! Please don't eat me!""
Memuatkan…Memuatkan…
3. "I'd still eat it."
4. Each a different path,
5. Each a different future.
6. "Yeah, I kinda figured..."
Memuatkan…Memuatkan…
1. "From what I can tell,"
2. "It seems she is dissatisfied"
3. "with the board's current way of doing things."
4. "If and when she becomes the first female director of Aihara Academy,"
5. "It is likely she intends to reshape the school according to her ideals."
6. "I only hope that the changes she brings about don't simply serve to tear down everything her grandfather worked so hard to build..."
7. "She's been paying visits to a number of academies in the area"
8. "And trying to convince them to adopt her new propositions."
1. "If his father has been keeping him informed,"
2. "Then I would imagine he is well aware of these plans."
3. "We've been engaged in negotiations with akamine academy"
4. "For quite some time now."
5. "Yuzu,"
6. "I don't know what you're thinking, but..."
7. "Oh..."
1. "There are some things that are simply out of our control."
2. "But—!"
4. "Uhh, hello~?"
5. "Yuzucchi~?"
6. "Your popsicle's melting~"
1. "I'm here to listen if you wanna talk."
2. "Sorry. I was kinda lost in thought..."
3. "I could tell."
4. "Mm..."
5. "You've been zoning in and out basically all day today."
6. "I can't really go into any of the details, but..."
7. "...so, even if you told this person what was going on, it might not matter because the outcome is already out of your control, huh..."
8. "Mhm..."
1. "I guess that's just how things are sometimes..."
2. "...yeah,"
3. Like, I know that if an outsider like me tries to butt in,
4. There's a good chance nothing about the situation will change, but...
5. "Oh, wait,"
6. "Is that what that whole popsicle thing was about?"
7. "Yeah."
8. "It was kind of a weird analogy, I know..."
1. "I just don't feel great about knowing something like this"
2. "While the person it affects the most is still in the dark..."
3. "...y'know?"
4. "The thing you're not sure about is whether or not you should."
5. "Ah, gotcha. So basically,"
6. "You know you want to tell them."
7. "Well, let's go back to your popsicle metaphor for a sec."
8. "Hmmmngghhh..."
9. "Do you think I'm just being selfish?"
10. "Hmm..."
11. "In that scenario,"
1. "And although that made it harder for me to eat it,"
2. "I still ate it in the end."
3. "The popsicle made the choice"
4. "To tell me how it felt,"
5. "Hey, food's meant to be eaten. Letting it go to waste would be cruel in its own way."
6. "Yeah..."
7. "Yeah..."
8. "...or think you're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong..."
9. "...ultimately depends on them."
10. "Well, when it comes down to it,"
11. "You only have so much control over the way someone reacts when you tell them something."
12. "There are other things that'll factor into it, like your phrasing or the closeness of your relationship,"
13. "But whether they take what you say kindly..."
14. "Personally, though..."
1. "If I was the one being kept in the dark,"
2. "I'm pretty sure..."
3. "...I'd want someone to tell me about it."
4. "But I guess..."
5. "...not everyone feels the same way, huh?"
1. "Yeah,"
2. "It's definitely not an easy choice to make..."
3. "..."
4. "We're back..."
1. "OH, GRAMS, YOU'RE BACK."
2. "YEAH, WE JUST WENT ON A LITTLE WALK TO STRETCH OUR LEGS."
3. "WELCOME HOME."
4. "DID YOU TWO GO OUT SOMEWHERE?"
5. "HEY, GRANNY!"
6. "Thanks for having me over!"
7. "YOU'RE WELCOME ANYTIME."
8. "Ehehe, thanks-"
9. "You're looking pretty on point yourself."
10. "You're as stylish as always!"
1. "Other things?"
2. "Being able to study together with Harumin has been a huge help!"
3. "It'd be hard to avoid getting distracted thinking about other things... if I was by myself,"
4. "I have to say, I'm impressed to see you both studying so hard on a weekend."
5. "Well, we don't have much time left to goof around at this point."
6. "..."
7. "Why don't you try talking to Grams about what you told me?"
8. "!"
9. "Hey, Yuzucchi."
10. "Hm?"
1. "But..."
2. "It can be difficult to stay focused on your studies"
3. "When you've got something weighing on your mind."
4. "So meet me in the living room after you've dropped off your things."
5. "I'll put on some tea,"
6. "Now then,"
7. "I say we take this thing into overtime!"
8. "This girls' night isn't over yet."
1. "So you're concerned that telling them won't be enough to change the outcome, and as a result,"
2. "You're having trouble deciding whether or not to even get involved..."
3. "...yeah."
4. "I see..."
6. "Here's how I like to think about it."
7. "Whenever you're struggling to solve a complicated problem..."
8. "That's a toughie, alright."
1. "If you try to force yourself to come up with a solution right from the get-go,"
2. "You'll end up frustrated and confused more often than not."
3. "!"
4. "The first thing to do..."
5. "...is break it apart into pieces"
6. "That are easier to understand."
7. I remember mei telling me
8. About how you have to break problems down into simpler parts
9. In order to work your way to the answer!
10. "Oh!"
11. "Studying's the exact same way!"
12. "That's right. This can apply to your studies in much the same way."
13. "Your problem can be divided into two separate questions that we can tackle one at a time."
14. "Those questions are, "Will telling them make a difference?" and "Should I tell them?""
1. "But first, ask yourself: is that really the case?"
2. "Let's start with the former. You seem convinced that you won't be able to make a difference."
3. "I trust Mei."
4. "I don't have any concerns on that front."
5. "definitely caught me by surprise, but..."
6. "Finding out that Aihara Academy is buying out Akamine Academy"
7. "I can't talk about the details,"
8. "But I'm pretty confident that this is something I don't have the power to change."
9. "...yeah."
10. "It's true that the buyout itself isn't something I can do anything about."
1. "Well..."
2. "She's certainly giving it her best effort,"
3. "but it seems she's still harboring some lingering apprehensions."
4. "...How is she doing?"
5. "The bar you've set is certainly a high one."
6. "Must inevitably come with a great deal of pressure"
7. "Succeeding the director's granddaughter as president of the student council"
8. "Still, I can hardly blame her."
9. "You're too perfect for your own good, Mei-mei."
1. "AND WHAT IS IT, EXACTLY,"
2. "THAT YOU'RE WORRIED THEY'RE BEING EXCLUDED FROM?"
3. "HUH?"
4. As far as I'm concerned,
5. the best outcome to this situation
6. is one in which everyone from both academies ends up happy.
7. So, is that happiness the thing that I'm worried about excluding Arata from?
1. "..."
2. But... will telling him about the buyout solve that?
3. Will that really make him happy?
4. "...FEEL BAD?"
5. "DO YOU STILL FEEL BAD FOR THEM?"
6. "WHAT DO YOU THINK?"
7. Huh?
8. "THOSE WERE YOUR WORDS, NOT MINE."
1. Hang on...
2. It feels like... whether I tell him or not...
3. In that case...
4. ...I'll still end up feeling bad for him either way.
5. Why do I still want to tell him in spite of all that?
1. "!"
2. "I'M NOT GONNA LET MYSELF FALL BEHIND! I'M GONNA KEEP IMPROVING RIGHT ALONG WITH YOU"
3. "AND BECOME THE PILLAR OF SUPPORT THAT AKAMINE ACADEMY NEEDS!"
4. Even if what I tell him makes him shocked and upset at first...
5. Oh... I think I get it.
1. There'd still be a future beyond that for us to work toward.
2. ...That wouldn't be the end.
3. and I know Mei has a plan. She wouldn't just get rid of Akamine Academy for no reason.
4. Arata will probably do something on his end in order to keep pursuing his goals,
5. "WELL? DID YOU FIND YOUR ANSWER?"
6. "SHOULD YOU TELL THEM?"
1. "I should!"
2. "..."
3. "We may not be able to do anything about this specific situation, but there's still a whole bunch of other things we might be able to do in the future!"
4. "Just because there's something that's out of our control,"
5. "That doesn't mean everything has to end there!"
1. "It's this process"
2. "That allows us to grow and become stronger. That's what I think, anyway."
3. "You might be having trouble deciding whether to tell someone something or not,"
4. "But the fact that you want to tell them remains unchanged."
5. "..."
6. "After that, all that's left to think about is the timing."
1. "HUH..."
3. TIMING,
4. "HUH?"
5. "IS THERE SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND TOO, HARUMIN?"
6. "?"
7. "YOU SURE~?"
8. "N- NOT REALLY..."
1. "Woo~"
2. "Mm, alright then,"
3. "Now that I've got all that cleared up,"
4. "Let's go show those practice sheets who's boss!"
5. "For real?!"
6. "That's the spirit. A strong work ethic is a good thing to have."
7. "So feel free to stay the night while you're at it."
8. "I'll cook up something to keep those energy levels strong,"
9. "Got it!"
10. "You said it."
11. "Sleepovers are the best!"
12. "Oh, Granny! Let me help you with dinner!"
13. "Don't forget to let your family know."
14. "Wouldn't wanna make the Prez worry."
15. "Right, Harumin?"
To be continued.