II

… The phone was ringing. Once. Twice. Many times. "Hello, this is Yukari Takeba's voice mail. If you – " Mitsuru hung up. She most definitely was not in the mood to leave any messages for anyone. Her initial motivation was about to break away. She could still call Yamagishi. She was sensible and always seemed to be receptive to other people's problems. She reached for the phone again in order to call Yamagishi – but the very moment her fingertips touched it, the phone began ringing. She winced shortly in surprise but then looked to see who was calling. It was Takeba. After a split second of hesitating, Mitsuru answered the call.

"This Mitsuru Kirijo, good afternoon."

"Hi Mitsuru, this is Yukari. I noticed you just called but I was under the shower and I couldn't reach the phone in time."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt. The call was not of striking importance, so feel free to continue the shower."

"Nah, it's okay. Now I'm outta the shower anyway. So, what's up?"

"…"

"Mitsuru, is everything alright?"

"I-I'm sorry. I just ... felt an urge to speak to someone."

"You mean about what happened?"

"Yes. I don't like to admit it but it still bothers me a great deal. I think talking about it might make feel a bit relieved."

"Well, yeah, sure. You can always talk to me when you're not feeling well. But, Senpai, why don't we meet somewhere and talk there? You know, I might catch a cold if I don't put any clothes on."

"Y-You're not dressed??" Mitsuru blushed at the thought. How she had invaded Takeba's privacy. "Alright. Where should we meet?"

"Uhm, I think Chagall Café might be nice. When can you be there?"

"In half an hour, see you there."

As she hung up, Mitsuru felt slightly confused. Of course, she had wished to be heard, that was what she had called Takeba for. But this was still a little overwhelming. And had she just blushed at the thought of Takeba not being dressed? How very rude this had been of her. She shook her head. Apparently, Takeba didn't bother much. If at all. So Mitsuru decided she'd better get ready in order to be in Paulownia Mall in half an hour.

As Mitsuru entered Paulownia Mall, she was unusually nervous. Usually, she was very calm and serious; she was too professional to be nervous. This time, however, was different. Because of reasons unknown to her, she felt an unpleasant tingling sensation and a little uncertainty of how to act. "What's the matter?", she asked herself "I'm only meeting Takeba. She's my dorm mate, it's normal for me to be around her." This did little to console her nerves – the reason for her nervousness was not Takeba. Mitsuru was afraid of openly talking about herself. This was nothing she was used to, she'd normally keep pretty much everything to herself.

Mitsuru entered the café and took a look around. She couldn't see Takeba anywhere, so she took seat at a table with two seats to wait for her. Takeba arrived a couple of minutes later, obviously in a hurry. She rushed to where Mitsuru was sitting and made a small bow.

"I'm sorry for being late, Senpai. Getting dressed and styled and all took me longer than I thought."

Mitsuru couldn't find anything about Takeba that looked different from her normal appearance. A second later, she already felt ashamed for staring at Takeba like that. "Don't worry, I haven't been here for long. Please, take a seat."

Takeba quickly sat down and, upon being asked by the waitress, ordered two pheromone coffee. "Eh, was that right, Senpai? I assumed you – "

"It's just right, thank you."

"Oh, okay. So, how was the week?"

"It was … pretty exhausting. There was a lot to be taken care of."

"No, I mean – how have you been feeling, you know, because of your father?"

"…" Mitsuru sighed. "His loss still saddens me a lot. I cannot believe how I failed to save him. Protecting my father was my reason to fight the Shadows – but now … I don't see any sense in all this anymore. "

"But that's not your fault. We were all blinded by the chairman's lies, no one suspected a thing. There is no reason for you to feel guilty."

"It's too late. My ultimate mission has failed."

"Don't think that! If you give up now, it's all been in vain! The responsibility of your father, your fighting … Don't let the Shadows win now! This isn't what your father would have wanted … or mine."

The coffee arrived and filled the air with its pleasant smell.

"You're right Takeba. I apologize for not remembering that you already lost your father. This was very tactless of me."

"No, Senpai, it's okay. Your loss is very acute, it's only normal that at the moment, it overshadows everything else. But you may not give up, okay? It's for the memory of our fathers." Takeba took a sip from her coffee. She seemed to combine determination and relaxation with ease.

"Thank you very much", Mitsuru said "Talking about this was a great relief. Now that I had to withhold my emotions all the time while I was meeting the board of managers, it felt as if I was going to burst."

"It's a good thing you talked, Senpai. Withholding emotions makes you sick, you know." Takeba stared into her coffee cup.

Mitsuru wondered what had given her this concerned, almost bitter expression all of a sudden but also didn't want to bother her further. She had already done a lot for her, so the both of them drank the rest of their coffee in silence.

Mitsuru paid the bill, forbidding Takeba to pay her own coffee. As Mitsuru had no business with the board of managers anymore, she decided to return to the dorm with Takeba. Talking to her had indeed been a relief but still, she just wanted to be alone at the moment and withdrew to her room. Once again, she was lying on her bed, deep in thought. "It's for the memory of our fathers", Takeba had said. She felt a lot of honesty and truth in those words, especially coming from Takeba who had lost her father in her early childhood – because of the Kirijo group's twisted activities. Mitsuru felt as if the responsibility for her grandfather's mistakes was now hers to bear. She felt horrible all of a sudden. Having to stand up for this frightened her. Mitsuru was a very responsible person but this seemed too much for her. Especially because she now felt guilty for the death of Takeba's father and all the sorrow it had caused for his daughter. In almost physical pain, Mitsuru writhed on her bed. She heard someone knocking on the door and wanted to say "Please leave me alone" – but she couldn't. When she tried to speak, only a strange gurgling left her throat. The visitor had apparently interpreted this as a "Come in", the door opened – and Takeba entered.