I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

"I don't know!" Mahiru Takanashi suddenly raised her head, and for the first time, she stared at someone with an expressionless but cold face.

Uwano faced this look head-on.

She nodded.

"Well, Mahiru doesn't know. Then... let me tell Mahiru."

"Did Maya buy her dress at that store? --No, but Mahiru saw it at that store, right?"

"Why did Mayu appear--because this was Mahiru's wish, right?"

"Why is Maya the same as Mahiru——because…"

Uwano paused, walked forward, and grabbed the face of Mahiru Kotori who was trying to escape.

"Maya is Mahiru, right?"

"..."

"Perhaps it should be said that Maya is another form of Mahiru, the Mahiru that Mahiru imagines, the Mahiru that Mahiru expects."

"..."

"That's why Maya knows Mahiru so well, and that's why Maya can't leave Mahiru."

"..."

"In the final analysis, Mahiru and Maya are one and the same."

"..."

As Uwano's words became increasingly pressing, Mahiru Kotori, unable to refute, fell into a long silence.

After waiting for a long time, the sound of wind blowing through the woods passed by my ears. In the gloomy shrine, the points of light that penetrated the shade of the trees were shaken by the wind.

Mahiru Takanashi spoke.

"So what even if it is? Maya has disappeared, Uwano." Mahiru Takanashi shouted to Uwano in front of her.

"Mayo disappeared because she caused trouble to her family. So what? There's no point in talking about this now. The Mayo you're looking for is no longer here. I'm Mahiru, Mahiru Kotori—"

"No, how can it be meaningless?" Uwano shook his head.

"What's the point?" Mahiru asked quickly.

"Because—" Uwano kept looking directly into Mahiru's eyes, his gaze seemed to see through her.

"Mayo is not gone."

"How could that be? It's already..." Mahiru Takanashi subconsciously wanted to refute.

However, Uwano smiled and looked away, his eyes seemed to be fixed on something.

"Maya is right there, always beside Mahiru, but Mahiru didn't notice it."

"..."

Mahiru Kotori looked over, but saw nothing except the dilapidated shrine.

Uwano continued talking to himself.

"Because Mahiru has lost hope in Maya, that's why he can't see. But, as I said, Maya and Mahiru are one, how could Maya just disappear like that?"

"..."

"As long as Mahiru is here, Maya will not disappear."

"..."

"Of course I can understand Mahiru, because her mother's worries hid Maya, but oh, it can't be hidden. I know Mahiru, and I know Maya, I can see it."

"..."

"In fact, today's appointment was made by Maya. Whether it was that store or this shrine, it was Maya who told me about it."

As he spoke, Uwano waved towards the empty space over there.

After greeting Maya, she turned around and faced Mahiru.

"Mahiru, Maya is you."

"Because I want to communicate with others but I am afraid to communicate with others, because I want to show myself but I am afraid of being seen by others, because of the gap between my expected self and my actual self, so, Maya exists."

"The true night was born from your wishes."

"Mayo's personality may seem completely different from Mahiru's, but that's just on the surface."

"Maya is the real Mahiru hidden in her heart, the most real, unreserved, and unaffected by anyone's gaze."

"Mayo won't just disappear like that."

"Compared to disappearing, I think accepting her... No, I should say accepting yourself. Accepting yourself is the right thing to do."

"As for Mahiru's mother's worries..."

Uwano was staring at Mahiru Takanashi, but it seemed as if he was staring at somewhere beyond the movie screen.

"Mahiru, have you ever opened your heart and talked to your mother?"

"..."

Mahiru Takanashi was in deep silence.

“When someone at home is troubled, do you try to communicate?”

"..."

"Maya told me that you didn't."

"There was no thought of even confessing."

"So, rather than saying Mayu disappeared, it's more accurate to say that it was you, Mahiru, who took the initiative to reject Mayu."

"but--"

"I can't refuse, because Maya is a part of you, Mahiru."

"So, don't cut Mayo out anymore, okay?"

"I've been worried about you these days, Mahiru. I'm worried about your self-division, self-denial, self-loathing..."

"Mahiru, stop running away, please face Mayu, and at least try to learn how to communicate with others?"

"Start by talking it through with your mother."

"..."

Uwano walked out of the shrine, leaving Mahiru Takanashi alone.

Uwano's words echoed over and over in her mind.

Her eyes swept over the shrine she was in again and again.

'Mayo is the real Mahiru hidden in her heart, the one who is unreserved and not affected by anyone's gaze.'

"It's the expected Mahiru."

"It was... Mahiru who came to listen to her wish."

'...'

Yes, that's right.

Maya is her, the one she had hoped for.

Mahiru Takanashi walked forward and arrived in front of the main hall to pray to the gods.

This deserted shrine not far from the school was where she had stood, made a wish to the gods, and expressed her hopes without reservation.

The one who responded to her was Maya.

"Finally figured it out?"

Mahiru Takanashi turned around, and a few steps behind her, Maya, who was wearing a black lolita and looked exactly like her, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood there calmly.

"..."

Mahiru Takanashi looked at her, just like she was looking at herself.

"You don't need me to explain to you and your mother, right?" Maye asked.

"…No need, I can do it myself." Mahiru replied.

"That's fine."

Maye nodded and suddenly disappeared again.

……

When Uwano re-entered the shrine, he saw a girl wearing a black lolita dress.

"came back?"

"Yeah." Takanashi nodded to Uwano who came to her.

"Mahiru or Mayo?"

"It's Birdie Swim."

"laugh."

Uwano was amused by this statement.

Chapter 248 Departure (Part )

The movie ended, the lights came on, a few discussions rang in my ears, and finally fell silent and dissipated.

The moviegoers left.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa also stood up.

When he stood up, he glanced at Mrs. Amemiya, who was still sitting there without saying a word for a long time.

She had a complicated expression, thinking about something, and when she noticed his gaze, she looked back at him.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa gave a polite smile, then he took one last look at Amamiya Yo, and then quietly walked out of the screening room without disturbing the two of them anymore.

The movie was over, and all he could do was over.

Just consider this movie as his final farewell to Amemiya Ye.

It not only contains what Amemiya Ye wants to express to his mother, but also his final expectations for the girl.

Amemiya Ye should be able to see it.

I hope this middle school girl can really think this matter through like in the movie.

Then, accept her other side - rather than splitting into two people.

Okay, that’s really the end of it. What happens next belongs to Amemiya Ye and her mother.

Walking out of the screening room and into the corridor, Tetsufumi Hirakawa was greeted by the orange light of the setting sun.

He squinted his eyes, adjusting to the dazzling feeling of walking out of darkness into the light.

Now that the matter of Amamiya Ye is over, there is only one thing left for him to do.

……

Unlike the bustling scenes on campus during the school festival, this place is remote and quiet enough.

The orange light that was about to end licked the place quietly, and it was as quiet as a pure land isolated from the world.

And in this undisturbed silence, there was a young girl standing alone by the guardrail, gazing through the gap in the guardrail into the distance.

A beautiful back view, the light of the setting sun, the slowly flowing wind on the rooftop, the slightly swaying hair behind, and the buildings in the distance that are cut by light and shadow and serve as the background.

Everything is so harmonious and complements each other.

The composition is so harmonious and picturesque that one would stop and not want to disturb it.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa just stood at the door, looking at what was in front of him, at the center of his field of vision, where his gaze was focused.

but--

Perhaps the slight sound when the door was opened was finally noticed by the girl who was looking into the distance and wondering what she was thinking after enough time had passed.