-3-

The door was locked when Mizuhashi Fuyuki arrived at home. The key was kept in a generic hiding spot; under the plant pot nearby, yet she still preferred to ring the doorbell instead.

"Welcome home, Fuyuki!" The door nearly swung off its hinges, crashing into the plant pot and sending it flying.

"Hi, good to see you again," The plant pot was caught before it shattered.

"I went to the fish market earlier and made a delicious dinner! Eat well and tell me about your day, okay?"

Fuyuki sat down and thanked her mother. "School was really nice, and my speech went well."

"Oh, wonderful! I'm glad the principal chose you, and not the class president. He's a terrible speaker, you know, and I still wonder at how you didn't make it into student council while he did,"

"Ah, don't be mean, Mom," Fuyuki smiled.

"Mean? I'm just being honest!" Her mother laughed. "You're just too kind, too perfect!"

"I try, I try."

"Oh, did you pick a new club? I don't want you to be alone if the debate club dissolves, that would look terrible."

"I looked around today and decided on the calligraphy club. How does that-" she was cut off.

"Calligraphy? I thought we decided on an academic club." The temperature in the room seemed to drop. "Remind me again, what are you working towards?"

"...Going to Tokyo University."

"Oh, are you really? Seems like you forgot. If you're just going to waste your time doing calligraphy, then I guess you should start failing your classes now, right? Sure, you can give up on your dreams and live alone on the streets. I'm fine with that." When the soft smile disappears from Fuyuki's mother's face, all that is left are cold, sharp eyes and an unforgivingly distant expression, a trait that had been passed to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, that was a bad decision." Fuyuki bowed her head and angled her gaze to the ground.

"So it was. Now, how are you going to fix it?"

"...I'll apologize to my club members and ask the principal to allow me to join another club."

"Then you do that. Finish eating so you can get started on homework."

Fuyuki nodded and quickly finished her dinner. She then apologized to her mother and ascended the stairs to her room with her schoolbag. Setting her belongings down on her table, she paused.

Dream.

She walked across her room and turned on the shower, watching as the light bent through each water droplet.

Freedom.

She walked to her closet and pulled out a set of casual clothes. Just a light beige collared shirt and loose-fitting black pants.

Monotonality.

She walked back to the shower and got in, pulling her hair from its usual ponytail and letting fall in front of her face.

Blindness.

She turned the shower off and dressed.

Morality.

She began her homework.

Effort.

She slept.

Tomorrow is a new day. No time to be thinking so deeply, especially when there's a dream to fulfill, freedom to find, monotonality to embrace, blindness to see, morality to dictate, and effort to exert.