2nd Stage: Lv. 13 You're sure to find what you want on the other side of the magic door
Say, Libra...
How far are we going to go?
We haven't walked that much.
That's Hinami!
Besides, the real fun is in the exploring.
Look! Mizusawa!
And if we get caught,
they shouldn't get too mad: you're with me.
Oh! A dead end.
Wait...
there's a door.
Will it open?
Leave it to me.
This is a job for a locksmith's son.
There, in the middle of the castle, was a hidden garden.
A girl named Kris was looking after a flying dragon.
Non-royals were forbidden to enter.
Wh-Who are you?
What are you doing here?
I'm Libra, the locksmith's son.
And this is Alucia.
She's the first princess of this kingdom.
We've been friends since we were...
Alucia?
Alucia, what are you doing?!
Let me go!
If I don't break this dragon's wing,
you'll be killed!
Freeze, all three of you.
Your Highness!
Seize that man!
His Highness's orders!
Resistance is useless!
Come quietly, now!
Father...
Libra is my younger brother—
one of the illegitimate children you have scattered around the kingdom!
Having escaped execution thanks to Alucia's quick thinking,
Libra began working as a caretaker for both the dragon and Kris.
Here, eat up.
They're medicinal herbs Libra gathered in the valley of the flying dragons.
Yes—it ate them!
Now I know it'll be able to fly!
It's not flying.
D-Don't look at me like that.
Some months passed...
Alucia! Did you really win the magicraft competition?!
That's amazing!
I don't care how I placed.
I just wanted this:
a gem that increases magic power.
This will definitely get that dragon off the ground!
I really must thank you, Alucia.
What do you want?
What do I want...?
I guess maybe there isn't anything I want.
Huh?
I just work hard every day, because I'll eventually have to be queen.
"Just" nothing—that's really fantastic!
I think you misunderstand me, Kris.
I have everything. And yet...
that's why I have nothing at all.
Goodness!
What a strange thing to say!
All right:
let's test out this gem!
It's not flying.
D-Don't look at me like that.
Say, Kris... flying dragons can read people's minds.
Their minds?
They're kind, too.
They never forget all they owe to the human who raises them,
and they do all they can to grant that person's wishes.
Uh-huh...
Kris...
you don't want to fly, do you?
Maybe not.
I've always thought I wanted to leave this garden.
But now...
The outside world had been something I'd yearned for.
But... while listening to your stories about it,
I found myself getting scared.
Scared?
After all,
I don't know anything about what it's like out there,
or what kind of people I'll find.
Could I even find my place in that world?
Would other people accept me?
In that case, Kris...
we'll go flying together!
Nice.
The dragon took to the air with no issues at all.
Kris got permission to leave the castle,
and Libra took her to the village.
Wow!
Ah! Ow ow ow...
Are you all right?
I'm sorry, ma'am!
You have to pay money for the things you want!
I-I'm sorry!
You can't just take things—that makes you a thief!
Calm down, Father.
I apologize. This girl is unfamiliar with the ways of the world...
Well, I'm against it.
You shouldn't be working in the outside world.
Why not?
I'm sure you have other paths you could follow.
Like what?!
Do you want me to live here in this garden forever?
No, that's not what I...
Tell me...
what's so wrong about me wanting to see the same world everyone else does?
Why can't I get along with everyone?
Why don't I know the things everyone takes for granted?
Am I... an entirely different creature?
Tell me, Libra...
Some days later...
Read this, Kris.
A letter, for me? From who?
"Thank you for the beautiful crown. It made me so happy."
It's from the greengrocer's daughter.
I gave her one of your handmade flower-crowns for her birthday. She loved it.
Hence the letter.
My floral work did that...?
That old woman we bumped into? You made her happy, too.
Don't you see?
So many people have smiles on their faces because of your flowers.
You do have a place in the world.
And you're not a different creature.
Uh-huh...
So c'mon...
Fly! On your own wings this time!
Now for the ending.
Well... here I go.
You can always come back if things get too tough.
I won't be that soft on you.
You go become the best flower artisan around—
and you'll come home not to the garden,
but to the castle, Kris!
You got it!
Yes...
This is what I should be doing.
At long last,
I've found my own way to fly!
It's over...
and it was a success!
Libra!
We've got a letter from Kris!
Really?
What's she say?
"Dear Libra and Alucia,
"I'm sorry I haven't come to visit.
"I'm doing well.
"I have my own atelier now."
I don't know this part...
"I've heard the news about you two.
"So you finally got the king's permission, huh?
"Congratulations on your marriage!
"I'm giving you both my very best floral decoration, with my thanks.
"Libra, Alucia. May every happiness be yours!
"Best wishes, Kris!"
This story—it's Kikuchi's story.
Kris is Kikuchi,
and my behavior is reflected in Libra.
If those two didn't wind up together...
This must be
Kikuchi's answer.
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki S2
Right. I guess that's life for you. It's one tough game.
It's unreasonable; the more you try, the harder it gets;
there are way more things that go wrong than go right...
But... it's not a garbage game.
I'll rest for a bit. And then...
I'll go back to this game called "life."
Tomozaki!
Mimimi...
The play...
Did it mean what I think it means?
Libra is you, and Alucia is Aoi...
and Kris is Kikuchi.
I want to be talking about how great it was, how much I enjoyed it.
But that scene at the end—and you and Kikuchi avoiding each other afterward...
It's just weird! You both worked so hard on it!
It's weird for you two not to be together after a huge success like that!
I guess so. I...
She turned me down.
Mimimi...
Kikuchi's in the library!
The play can't be the only way she gives you her answer!
Brain!
Aren't you the best gamer around?
Then stick with it to the bitter end, till you know for sure it's over!
Thanks.
I'll go there now.
Tomozaki...
Listen...
Yes?
About that last scene...
That's how it all turns out, huh?
I'm sorry.
No apology necessary.
That's...
the conclusion I chose.
It's probably not my place to ask why...
but I'd still like to know.
I'd been thinking...
It's true that Kris might like Libra.
She really does feel like she wants to be with him forever.
You mean...
But...
Alucia must be with Libra.
Wait—why?
Alucia is clever but empty: a girl who's missing the part at her core.
And Libra is awkward but curious: a boy with things he wants to do.
They're complete opposites...
which is why they'd make an ideal couple.
"Ideal"...?
What happened to being true to yourself instead?
At first I thought it would work.
But...
Sekitomo High School Culture Festival Play My Unfamiliar Way to Fly
It turns out I was wrong.
Sekitomo High School Culture Festival Play My Unfamiliar Way to Fly
I was satisfied with what you told me at first,
that I shouldn't approach life itself from an author's viewpoint
and that I should try to face my own emotions
without forcing them to fit the world's ideals.
When I did,
the world looked so vivid—like the world Libra showed Kris.
I thought, "Wow, Tomozaki really is amazing."
Then...
But that doesn't work for me.
To live according to one's own emotions
in this story we call the world...
It's too selfish with regard to how the other characters feel.
So I'm going to rein myself in and live in a way I can see as sincere.
That's my conclusion.
Because that's how I want to live.
And yet—I can't forget...
Sekitomo High School Culture Festival Play My Unfamiliar Way to Fly
I can't forget the glittering scenery and the world all a-sparkle,
like it was in the other ending.
Even though that's just selfish!
We're the same.
Do you remember, Kikuchi?
Until very recently, I'd been ignoring the world at large.
I had no interest in ideals.
I lived in freedom, prioritizing my desires over anything else.
But then I met a certain magician
Ultimate Goal To be as satisfied with offline life as I am
who taught me how to live with an ideal in sight.
So I gave it an honest try, and started seeing results.
But along the way, I thought: This isn't working after all.
Using skills to get by feels insincere to me somehow.
But being honest to my emotions—that was sincere.
Does that sound familiar?
I started with emotions and learned how to aim for an ideal.
You started with an ideal world and learned how to be true to your emotions.
We're opposites.
Sekitomo High School Culture Festival Play My Unfamiliar Way to Fly
Do you know what I did?
I embraced both:
ideals and emotions.
All I had to do was make the effort to have both at once.
The same goes for you.
For me... too?
You don't have to pick just one.
You can do your honest best to have both.
Simple, right?
But...
I don't know how.
If Libra is meant to be with Alucia,
and I twist that plot just for the sake of my own emotions...
Isn't that just selfish?
In Kikuchi's version of the world's ideals,
the two of us aren't meant to be.
On the other hand, I'm pretty sure she likes me.
She has to make that contradiction work.
And, yes, as she says,
it might be tough in the fictional world of Kris, Libra, and Alucia.
But in this world? It's a cinch.
I've got it, Kikuchi. There is one foolproof method.
It was that simple.
If Kikuchi can't twist how she thinks the world should be
based only on her own emotions...
I like you, Kikuchi. I want us to be a couple.
I, Fumiya Tomozaki, should choose Kikuchi.
Remember what you said?
Huh?
Libra and Alucia each have what the other lacks, so they belong together.
Don't you think the same goes for Libra and Kris?
Fretting over the same things, but in opposite order—
and we find that our words gave each other a way to move forward.
Even from an author's perspective on this story of life,
don't you think this relationship is pretty ideal?
You know...
Libra was always good at opening locks.
Uh-huh. And remember what the Popple said:
"Words are magic."
Complete event map (before culture festival) Medium Goal: CLEAR! Have a girlfriend before starting year 3 Congratulations!! Today's Assignment Next Goal:
Now, then.
First of all: congratulations.
It's all thanks to you.
Me?
I only wanted to prove that I was right.
True enough.
You get it now, right?
Your character change was a big success.
However!
This is no time to relax.
I'm aware.
Ultimate Goal To be as satisfied with offline life as I am
You're nowhere near this final goal.
I'll keep dishing out tricky assignments, so stay on the ball.
Oh, and I'm sure you remember the matching-accessories task.
You never did complete it.
G-Got it. Hit me with your best shot!
I see. So it went well.
Y-Yeah, it did.
That's a top gamer for you. Never say die!
But dang, Brain, you're a player!
I-I'm really not...
Oh, it's fine.
Knowing you, Tomozaki, you thought things over really well when it came to me, too.
I get it.
Sorry.
So... Let's just shake it off, all right? Both of us!
Okay?
Got it.
But you know...
If you think I'm going to like you forever, you've got another thing coming!
You silly Brain!
My Unfamiliar Way to Fly Fuka Kikuchi
I've finished the novel, too.
I'd love for you to read it.
What's wrong?
Well, um...
My Unfamiliar Way to Fly
It's not actually the official version.
It's a story I wrote for myself.
For yourself?
You told me that I can be honest with my own emotions.
My Unfamiliar Way to Fly Fuka Kikuchi
So this isn't about what's best for the story world, but what's best for me.
I tried my hand at that kind of story instead.
Such was our comfortable, mutually understanding relationship.
I didn't think the coziness we felt would change at all just because we were dating.
However...
All right. I'll read it later and tell you what I think.
No, you can't.
I want to know here and now.
I-I'll wait.
O-Okay...
My Unfamiliar Way to Fly Fuka Kikuchi
Then, uh...
Kikuchi had started being just the tiniest bit demanding toward me.
This here...
Yes?
Sorry—hang on.
You've completed the accessories task
Hmm? Is something wrong?
It's nothing.
My Unfamiliar Way to Fly Fuka Kikuchi
Though still unaccustomed to the outside world,
Kris felt like she could walk forever and ever as long as Libra was by her side.
It's a little embarrassing, me being a guy and all...
Oh, come on!
I've always wanted to match like this.
Do you remember what the two of us saw from way up in the sky?
I'd never seen such a splendid world in my life.
Right—and I never knew being up there could feel so amazing.
But you know the most important thing you taught me?
This world is absolutely full of splendor all around us—
and you don't have to fly to see it.
So thank you.
I love you, Libra.