Ruruka has never been the same, after the incident with Juzo punching her in the face and getting her taken into intensive care. Nobody really wants to talk about it.

Even though she was being cared for by Hope's Peak top doctors, nobody was allowed to visit her until she was cleared by them. The first day visitors were allowed, Seiko came in as soon as the hospital opened its doors. She stayed with the girl for hours in silence, and held her hand as if to reassure them both that she would be okay.

The third day she visited, she noticed that Izayoi never came to see her. For being her closest friend, it was strange…

The doctors explained that even after the brutal blow to her head and the coma that followed, she would be fine. She will be back in her regular classes after a few weeks. Everyone accepted it and moved on with their lives. Seiko waited out the following days with anxiety. It was her best and only friend; she desperately wanted Ruruka to be okay.

One month passed

Seiko was in the one of the labs, distantly mixing different chemicals together. Though it was dangerous despite doing this many times before, but Seiko can't help getting distracted. Since that day, she hasn't heard any news about her friend. Her ward had closed her room to visitors, with an excuse about outside influences interfering with her recovery. Nobody else in her class cared, but it was immensely frustrating to her. She was just starting to think that maybe she should go file a complaint, when a noise cut out her thoughts.

A loud bang brought her back to focus, and she lost grasp of her project. The vials she was holding fell down to the floor and the glass cracked open, the liquid inside emitted a dark cloud. Seiko turned to meet the perpetrator… and it was Ruruka!

Her mood lightened instantly when she saw her friend. She didn't even care that she ripped the door from its hinges. She felt a month's worth of grief and worry lifted from her shoulders at that moment, and even Ruruka looked like she shared the sentiment. But she didn't even know what to say.

While Seiko was at a loss for words, Ruruka walked over and grabbed her hand. She said her first words since waking up from her coma; "Seiko-chan, do you love me?", puzzling Seiko.

It wasn't something you would usually say after being away for a long time, but she reasoned it was because her friend was in a long coma. Naturally Ruruka would be confused about things—so she decided it was easier to answer her. "Of course Ruruka, we're friends right?"

Ruruka flashed a wide grin. "Then~ prove it!"

Then Seiko felt something round in the palm of her hand. She looked down, and Ruruka took her own hand off to reveal what it was- one of Ruruka's homemade confections. Seiko felt her shoulders sag when she figured out what she meant. Not this again…

Disheartened, Seiko began to say her usual apologies. "R-Ruruka, please, you know I can't eat this… I'm happy to see you and everything but-"

The sweets were swiped from her hand before she even finished. Seiko raised her head to see Ruruka's back turned to her, trembling as if she was sobbing. But was she really? Seiko didn't think she's ever seen her friend cry before. At this point she started to feel bad. The first thing her friend did after recovering was reject her, even if she had no choice. She felt the need to apologize.

Seiko reached over to put a hand on her shoulder. "Ruruka…"

The other girl turned her head to meet her, and Seiko noticed her eyes were actually full of tears. She sniffled and said this in a wobbly voice, "Seiko-chan… i-if you can't eat my sweets, then can you prove you love me some other way…?"

"Of course, Seiko… I can, but…"

Ruruka had already turned away from her hand, and she faced her. Like a child, she had the biggest grin plastered on her face. "Then it's settled, right? You'll prove that you love me soon right?"

Seiko tried her hardest to return her smile, but her mood whiplash left her shocked. She didn't really understand what was happening, but decided to go with it. This was always how she handled things. Seiko nodded and said "O-okay… I will."

She seemed to accept those words. "Alright, I want that proof in less than 24 hours! Otherwise I'll…!" she couldn't hear the rest, because she shouted the words as she ran out the door and into the hallway. Just like that, she was gone. Seiko was just processing everything that happened, and crumpled down to the floor. Right now she felt a huge weight placed on her shoulders—a short talk with her friend had given her so much stress. She said she wanted proof that she loved her… where on earth would she get this "proof"?

The next day, a crowd gathered around Hope's Peak main building. It was a Sunday, but Seiko received a text telling her to go to the school. She had just arrived to there, so she had to push and elbow her way through the crowd to get to the front. When she did, all she could do was stare in shock as she felt her entire body grow cold.

Hanging down the logo there for everyone to see, was the lifeless body of Ruruka

Revolted, Seiko ripped off her mask and threw up in front of half the school's students.

She knew what that meant, of course. Yesterday's conversation resurfaced clearly in her mind as she sobbed loudly, tears mixed with snot and vomit.

The girl she's been waiting a whole month for, taken away permanently when she thought she'd finally have her back.

And Seiko couldn't even fulfill her final wish. Seiko can't help but feel it was all her fault.

She had made such a show of grieving that the authorities had to drag her off the premises. All the while, she begged them to lock her away, because she truly believed she brought Ruruka's end. She really needed that proof so badly? She should have gotten it somehow!

When she needed her the most, Seiko felt like she didn't even try enough.

A few days later, Seiko was resting at home. After that incident, she felt like she couldn't show her face around her classmates anymore. She knew they didn't want to talk to someone as terrible as her.

Her hand trembled as she held up a phone, galleries of photos with her and Ruruka selected. She could feel a lump form in her throat again.

The screen reflected her face thanks to the light, and it was something she didn't want to see right now. While lost in her thoughts, the sound of a window crashing didn't even faze her. But a hand roughly shoving her out of bed did.

"W-Who's that… B-Burglar?!" Seiko shouted, but she was hushed by… Ruruka?

With strength Seiko had never seen, Ruruka picked her up and hugged her tightly.

"Seiko, oh Seiko! That was the best thing I've ever seen!"

Seiko didn't understand what she was talking about, but it's not like she could reply anyway. She felt like her bones were going to break from Ruruka's hug. She noticed and released her.

Seiko took a well needed deep breath before saying, "What?!"

"That show of despair when it looked like I died! It was amazing!