I don't know what had Sissie so upset from our outing but I know she wouldn't have another one. I suppose, that day, I realized that she was wearing some kind of makeup on her hands and what she covered up were scars. After that, she wouldn't visit with me outside of the house. I could only engage with her when her face obscured by curtains. She sounded so differently, like she was a little girl. She wasn't lying about being shy but she was much shyer than usual. Maybe something about the Kiryuuin Mystery triggered her bad memories.

What happened during that day wasn't lost on the other three, with Houka pointing out that she spontaneously started crying out of nowhere and how aloof she was before that. "Say what you will, Nonon, something happened to that girl and, whatever it was, it likely has something to do with the Kiryuuin Mystery. Her behavior is too off, especially." he told me but I countered it.

"She said her parents died in a fire, maybe the subject just triggered her bad memories of the event."

"She wore a veil."

"She said she was shy, Dog."

"You mentioned that she wore makeup and that you saw it running."

"She has scars, Dog."

Uzu told me that I must be in denial or it's a coincidence but said, "This girl has scars, wears makeup, long clothes in the dead of summer, and doesn't use her real name, so either she's been real traumatized from that fire that killed her parents or she's one of the Kiryuuin girls." Gamagoori agreed, pointing out that I don't even know her sisters' names.

Later on, I decided to ask about her scars, to which she asked, out of the blue, in a little girl's voice," If I show my scars, will you think differently of me?" I told her that I wouldn't but she made me promise that I'd never tell anyone about what I saw. I had to promise this several times before she finally let me into the house.

I was a bit shocked but I didn't show it. Here she is, Sissie, with her scars. She wore no veil, makeup, or even her usual long clothes. No, she may as well have been immodest. On her face, near the corner of her mouth, was a pinkish blotch, somewhat in the shape of an autumn leaf, and there were other pinkish blotches on her limbs, perhaps, more where the flames really got her. Thinking about it, I think some of those might've been chemical burns.

Somehow, she looked like she'd been kicked. Underneath what she hid was a hurt and scared little girl, one that has seen so many things. What happened to her? She didn't tell me too much because she was trying to so hard to keep her sisters from hearing her break down, before telling me, "I told a half-truth. Our mother was in the fire and I was injured as a result of it." A "half-truth"? Sissie, what are you on about? She was trying to hold back tears, before choking out, "I'm so sorry."

After a bit, she quickly straightened herself up, wiped away her tears, before saying, "You must not tell anyone!" Her voice wasn't exactly like a her usual voice, nor was it like a little girl's, it was more like a harsh, whisper with a hiss. She didn't keep that tone for long, as her voice reverted to a strange combo of her usual and a little girl's voice when she asked, "Are you upset with me?" I told her that I wasn't.

Over tea, she reminded me that she doesn't trust people so easily. "I'm no better, I'll admit, as I told you half-truths, but I haven't been able to trust anyone, other than Miss. I've had no one besides my sisters, so you must not tell anyone what you know about me. You seem trustworthy enough but I'll need you prove it." she said, before going, "It tends to be the ones who care for you the most that tends to betray you the worse." Something she said with a hiss.

Sissie, what type of "betrayal" did you have?

As I was leaving, I noticed her and sisters watching me, though Sissie looked like she was almost pleading.