Wake up.

A lovely summer day. A cool breeze. A pleasant sky. The promise of school begetting the promise of Mion. The possibility of Shion.

And those others, they're fun. But they don't compare with my jewel.

I dress. I eat. I converse inanely with my parents. They need to leave for a week on some business. Apathy. It hardly matters. They say I should invite some friends over. The end of apathy. A perfect excuse to bring Shion over. Perhaps she'd even care to stay the night? One never knows.

I leave for school. See Rena. Talk. Apathy. But then there she is.

Models? Unwashed rabble to her body.

Angels? Pox-riddled whores to her radiance.

Hyperbole? Perhaps. But there is no better pair of glasses than true love. You know how it is.

I tried to remain calm as I approached her. I resisted the urge to press my lips to hers once again and never remove them, even if it meant our deaths. But of course, that wasn't feasible, so I settled on a greeting.

"Morning, Keichi!" she said and wished Rena a good morning too. Rena asked about the punishment game and if we'd decided on something. "Yeah, we worked it out, right Keichi?" she replied, and for a moment her eyes pleaded with me. There was no need, I'm a man of my word. "Of course," I said. "It took a while, but we reached a deal." Rena asked what it was, after I'd made such a big deal of it. I was going to answer, but Mion beat me to it. "Oh, I have to clean his house for a week. Such a drag!" and Rena seemed content with that answer.

What exactly did I do a few days ago? How did I behave around Mion? Was it different now? It must be, how could it not be? But no one seemed to take issue with it. Hours passed.

It was lunchtime, and we were all eating together. Rika asked Mion what we should play today. Rena said that it would have to be something fast so Mion could get over to my house to clean. "Hey, it's not like I'm his servant or anything!" she said, flustered and – just maybe – aroused by the notion. A servant! No chance. Shion might be my servant, but not Mion…although I mustn't jump to conclusions. "A deal is a deal Mion," I said "And you have to do what we agreed to." Rena asked what exactly she'd agreed to. "We just worked out that I have to clean his room, which he hasn't done in ages" Mion said, to which Rena replied

"You're lying."

In that eerily calm way of hers and we all stared at her even though the last thing any of us wanted to see just then was her eyes and I quickly said "You're right, Rena, but Mion doesn't want to be embarrassed" and Rena said "What could be so embarrassing that you'd make her do, Keichi?" and I wanted to kill her the little bitch how dare she question me? and what's more how dare she put Mion on the spot like that even though she is perfectly accurate somehow I hate her so much sometimes and Rika said that I'm probably making Mion go through all my old baby toys and I made her swear not to tell. Since it was a suggestion and not a lie, Rena calmed down and said that was probably it.

The rest of the school day passed without incident.

Mion stopped at her house on our way home. She said that she was going to take a bath before she came over, but I knew that she was going to try and "call" Shion. I wonder how that's done? Does she really need to pick up a phone and pretend to dial? I don't know. But I will. Oh, I most certainly will when I have her (them?) all to myself.

I went home. Sitting at my front door was a bento box. There was a note from Mion there congratulating me once again on how well I'd done in hand-and-seek, and that she'd made the food herself. I took it inside and ate it, it didn't take more than a few minutes, and thought I should go to Mion personally and thank her. It was perhaps four in the afternoon at this point, so there wouldn't be any problem.

Her house is so small and ugly. Very unbecoming for the heir to one of the largest families in Hinamizawa. Still, what mattered was what the beauty inside the house, not the lack of it on the outside. Mion let me in happily and urged me to stay a while.

"Thanks for the lunch, Mion, it was great" I said and to my surprise she looked confused and said "What lunch do you mean?" and I said "You left a bento on my doorstep, with a note from you" and she said "No, I didn't" and I said "It must have been from you, it even mentioned playing hide-and-seek" and she looked thoughtful but then said "I guess Shion must have done it and used my name" and I replied "But how would Shion know about the games we play?" and Mion said "I tell her everything that goes on" and I asked "Everything?" and got a bit closer to her and I could hear her heartbeat pick up so wonderful and she slowly said "Almost everything" and I said "So when can I expect Shion to stop by?" and I could see she looked disappointed is she completely unaware of Shion's presence? and she said "I was just getting ready to call her before you showed up, I don't think she's home right now" and I got closer to her so there was nowhere for her to look but into my eyes and said "That's a pity" and she said "I really like you, Keichi" and I said "I know" and she said "I think Shion might too" and I said "I know" and she said "But she doesn't know you as well as I do" and I said "That's true" and she said nothing but moved forward to try and kiss me but I turned away, just subtly enough so that we could both pretend no one had tried to kiss anyone and I said "Well, I should get home. Tell Shion thanks for the lunch for me when you get in touch with her" and she said "Okay, Keichi, see you later" and I left.

Why did I leave? Mion is so beautiful and I love her so much. But. But.

But she didn't have that special quality about her this time. She wasn't vulnerable enough. She's so flawless that unless she's uncertain or afraid, she can't be real. She has to be a mirage or a dream. And kissing a dream is pointless. Better to kiss the real woman, and in this case, Shion was the woman on my mind. So real, I could taste her, all of her, just judging by how Mion's lips had tasted. Taste her soft earlobes, her lovely pink nipples, I could feel the texture of every inch of skin on my tongue.

And when I got home, the phone rang. It was her.

"Hi, Keichi, you left so quickly I forgot to ask you something" she said and I said "Sure, what is it?" and she said "Well, to tell the truth, I don't have any plans for tonight, so I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner together. I could bring some stuff for us to cook at your place" and my heart leapt into my throat even if I had eaten not too long ago that was hardly the point so I said "That sounds great!" and she said with a smile in her voice "Awesome! Hey, should we invite Rena?" I must admit I was confused. A little while ago, didn't she want me all to herself? Still, I knew that excluding Rena too much would only encourage her to stick her tongue where it doesn't belong, so I agreed with no small amount of trepidation. "Okay," I said and she said "I'll call her in a bit and tell her to bring something. Later, Keichi!" she said and I said "Later, Mion" but then but then she said "Hope you liked the lunch!" and I couldn't react and my hands clenched again maybe not hard to enough to bleed but I could tell my hands were freezing and I said "Who is this?" but she had already hung up.

She responded as "Mion" and wasn't shy like Shion, but she knew about the bento. Was it Mion on the phone, had she played coy earlier? Was it Shion on the phone, pretending to be Mion was it Shion earlier pretending to be Mion was it who was it? Who was I just talking to?

Have to remain calm. Yes, calm, yes. Perhaps Shion is the original, and Mion the other personality created to make up for Shion's spinelessness? Maybe Mion is the face presented to others, while Shion is who she is when she's alone. Maybe it was Shion that left the lunch, using Mion as a way to hide her identity without Mion actually being aware of it. And Shion was just on the phone with me. But why would Shion invite herself (and Rena) over if Mion handles other people?

Ultimately, I cannot reach a conclusion at this point. And really, does it matter? The woman I love is coming over to my house for dinner. Does it really matter which facet of her is catching the light at any given point in time? What matters is not the facets, but the jewel herself. Oh, vibrant and lovely Mion, oh, seductive and inviting Shion, there is no height of emotion you cannot evoke in my soul. My love is like a story, truly a tale told by an idiot, but the sound will be the sound of our amorous confessions and the fury will be the fury found in our lovemaking. The significance will be nothing to all but us three, who will revel in each other's hearts for evermore.

Which is the other? That hardly matters to me, as long as I possess the love of both. You know how it is.