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Disclaimer: I don't own Tokidoki Bosotto Roshiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san or any of its characters...

Maria Kujou paced around the makeshift farm over and over, her gaze darting towards the crops that were nowhere close to being fully-grown.

It's obvious that she had nothing else to do here, but the girl didn't seem like she had any intention of leaving.

It looked more like she was trying to distract herself from something, whatever it might be.

"Good morning, Masha-san."

Hearing her name being called, the brunette turned her head to see someone whom she didn't expect to see today.

"Kuze-kun…?"

"Who else?" he asked rhetorically.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"Yeah, of course."

After hearing that answer, she frowned and gave him a big pout, which was kind of adorable to look at… if he wasn't the target of it.

"You know, you made almost everyone want to find and drag you back to have breakfast."

"Sorry, I just felt like going out and getting some fresh air earlier…" he scratched the back of his head nervously, feeling a bit uneasy at her pouting expression. "I still ate, though. Isn't that what's important?"

"It is, but it's better for us to eat our meals together. I don't think anyone likes to eat alone… even Ayano-chan, no matter how much she insists that she's only a maid."

"Okay, I concede… it was wrong of me not to join everyone for breakfast," he raised his hands in surrender, not wanting to prolong the issue any further. "Was she referring to Alya for a moment there?"

Masachika had Ayano tell everyone else that he wouldn't be joining them for breakfast, as he wanted to check on the raft one last time before taking it out for another test run later.

Several of them wondered why he would skip an important part of the day — including Masha herself, Sarashina, Miyamae, and Taniyama — until the maid confirmed that he would be eating after doing an inspection on the raft.

At least he wasn't skipping a meal altogether.

"Shouldn't you be with Chisaki-chan right now? Since you're going to try and go around the island on the raft…"

He nodded. "We will, after I'm done here. I just wanted to see you before we leave."

"You… wanted to see me?"

"I'll go straight to the chase," he began. "I'm sure everyone else has noticed by now that you're not exactly feeling well, myself included."

"What do you mean, Kuze-kun? I feel fine," she asked.

"You know that's not what I meant, Masha-san. If you don't want to talk about it, just tell me. I won't bother you about it again, but I'd hate to see you looking miserable like this any longer."

Masha stared at him for a few moments, as though she was weighing her possible options in her mind, before a sad smile took over her features.

"Nothing gets past you, Kuze-kun… Наверное, я должна была предвидеть это…"

Seeing the expression on her face was enough for Masachika to determine that she wanted to talk, so he prepared himself for what he might hear from her.

"Tell me, Kuze-kun. How would you feel if there was ever a time where you have to choose between two people who are important to you?"

"Is this about Alya?"

"...please, just answer my question."

"I know what it feels like," he admitted right away. "Back then, I probably thought I was doing the right thing, but I regret it now. When I made that decision, I didn't realize how much I hurt the person I left behind until reality slapped me in the face."

Masachika had no idea why, but the more he reminded himself about that day, the more he felt at peace with it. His actions, to be exact.

He still felt regret for leaving his sister back then, but not as much as he used to. Seeing Yuki being visibly happier these days was slowly alleviating him of the guilt that he had over it.

"I see…"

Masha exhaled a long, deep sigh before lowering her head to hide her face from him. She didn't want him to see the face of someone like her.

"Kuze-kun… I'm a horrible person."

"What are you talking about?" he frowned.

"I did something unforgivable, and I can never take it back."

"Masha-san, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong, but I can tell that this is about your sister."

"I didn't want to believe it at first. I didn't want to believe that Alya-chan would be capable of hurting you, of all people. But I think at some point, I gave up on trying to understand what really happened. All that I could think of was that my sister hurt you terribly, and that it was my fault why she did it."

"What happened to me wasn't your fault," he reaffirmed.

"You might think so, but Alya-chan was my responsibility. What happened to you… it felt like I let it happen."

The girl looked away, blinking back tears as she felt the urge to cry. However, she willed herself not to… for now, at least.

"After Ayano-chan explained everything to us, I felt like I couldn't defend Alya-chan anymore. She went too far, and there was no excuse for her actions. There's no justifying what she did to you."

"But she's still your sister. Why would you not think that there's a reason why she snapped?"

"It's because she's my sister that it hurts!" Maria shouted in a fit of rage. She balled her fists tightly out of frustration… not towards someone else, but rather herself.

Masachika actually took a step back out of surprise at her outburst, and he was left wide-eyed as a result. It's the first time he had seen her like that, and it was hard to watch.

It took a few moments for her to calm down and when she did, her voice was back to being soft and quiet.

"Kuze-kun, we've known each other for years now. Alya-chan is my family, but… you're also important to me."

She turned around, unable to face him for her next words. It already hurt her enough that this was happening in the first place.

"E-Even after I graduated, I never stopped worrying about Alya-chan and I constantly wondered if she'd be fine on her own. But because of you, I realized that I didn't need to worry at all. I could leave her in your hands and be at peace, because I know you'll take care of her in my place, and you did."

Masha knew to herself that she was only covering up for thetruth, but she still couldn't tell him. Not here, and not now... even if the world were to end tomorrow.

There's no way she could tell him about how they really met back then, and how she always kept him in her mind and heart.

The young man looked down, feeling a bit of shame himself. Hearing this things from Alya's sister made him feel as if he failed her.

"After all the time we've spent together, after all the time we spent together, you've become important to me as well."

A brief memory of a young Masachika and her playing together flashed in the girl's mind, which finally caused her inner dam to break.

"That's why I couldn't understand why Alya-chan would hurt you. She always thought highly of you and she values your relationship with her… and there was no reason for her to do that."

Masachika wanted to tell her that the only reason why Alisa even attacked him was because of a foolish action that he made, but held his tongue. The girl still had a lot of things she wanted to get out of her chest, and he didn't want to interrupt any of it.

"But you're right, Kuze-kun. I didn't think that there could be a reason why Alya-chan would hurt you, and that's why I didn't do anything to help her… but all I did was make things worse…"

She turned around to face him again, and Masachika felt a pang of hurt in his chest at seeing her beautiful face ruined by the tears that were flowing down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Kuze-kun. I remember you telling me that you wished your relationship with Suou-chan was like Alya-chan and myself…" she sniffled, trying her best to flash a smile but failing horribly. "...but we failed to live up to your expectations. I… failed to live up to it…"

Unable to hold it in anymore, Maria threw herself at him, burying her face into his chest as she sobbed. Masachika could only stand there, completely still like a statue while he acted as a pillar of support for this girl.

This entire thing felt familiar to when she tearfully asked him for advice at the beach several weeks ago, but this had gone far beyond that.

"I'm a horrible person… I let my own sister face judgement as if I didn't care," she wailed. "I'm grateful for everything you've done to help Alya-chan, Kuze-kun… but it should've been me who did all those things! It wasn't your burden to bear…!"

The young man couldn't do anything but return the hug, which the girl desperately needed right now.

"I failed to be the sister that Alya-chan can rely on…! I was willing to throw her to the wolves… all because I gave in to my emotions! It's all my fault!"

Maria continued to cry out in anguish, staining his shirt with her tears. Masachika didn't care though, because all that mattered to him at the moment was comforting this poor girl.

"...so what?" he finally spoke after allowing her to release her pent-up feelings.

She slowly looked up at him, feeling lost and confused at the same time.

"Eh…?"

"So what if you made a mistake? Everyone does. Even me," he explained calmly. "I just told you about the time that I had to make a decision between two people, didn't I? A decision that I ended up regretting."

Masachika took a deep breath and pulled away from the hug, before placing his hands on her shoulders.

"If I can go back in time to fix what I did wrong, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can't. And all that I can do now is keep my head high and make sure that it doesn't happen again."

He used both his thumbs to wipe the tears off her eyes and her cheeks, as the girl listened to everything that came out of his mouth.

"And neither can you, Masha-san. As much as it hurts the two of us, what's done is done. We can't go back to fix what we did wrong. All that's left for us to do is to live with our mistakes and learn from them."

"I still hurt Alya-chan… my own sister… I wasn't there for her when she needed me… I can tell that she hates me…"

"Personally, I don't know what to tell you, because I don't know how Alya feels. This is something between you and your sister, Masha-san. And it's something you'll have to resolve on your own. I don't want to believe that Alya hates you, but there's only one way to find out, right?"

Maria lowered her head, mulling over her possible choices before coming to one irrefutable conclusion.

"I don't think I can face Alya-chan right now… I don't think I'm ready to show my face to her… I can't talk to her while I'm like this…"

"That's fine. It's not like she's going anywhere. None of us are," he patted her shoulders as she sniffled a few more times. "That being said, I'm here when you need a shoulder to cry on. Even if you're supposed to be the older one between us, I don't really mind looking after you."

Her eyes that were stricken with tears slowly widened, before a wave of euphoric relief washed over her.

"Снова и снова... ты рядом со мной…"

In a move that caught Masachika off guard, Maria grabbed his shirt and pulled him down towards her, where she proceeded to give him a quick peck on the cheek before hugging him again.

"Thank you… Masachka-kun…" she whispered as one last tear left her eye. She clung on to him even tighter, having no intention of letting go.

"...what was that?"

Her eyes snapped open, realizing her blunder. "N-Nothing. It's… nothing…" she quickly muttered.

"Okay…"

Masachika decided to relent for now, but he wasn't deaf. He heard what Masha said and he heard it clearly.

Outside of meeting him for the first time, this was the only other instance where Masha said his first name.

And yet… why did she say his name in such a familiar way, as though he had heard it before?

Surprisingly enough, this was what caught his attention instead of the sudden kiss that he received…

"Kuze-kun… can… you stay here with me for a bit?" she asked shyly, gripping his shirt tightly as if she was afraid of his answer. "Um… I know that you still have to help Chisaki-chan, so I can understand if—"

He was quick to shake his head, before deciding to return the hug again. "I don't think Sarashina-senpai would mind waiting for me… if she knew that I was trying to cheer you up, Masha-san."

"I'm glad…" she sighed in relief, smiling slowly as she enjoyed this quiet moment with the childhood friend whom she held feelings for this whole time… the same person who was also here for her in her time of need.

Her dear Saa-kun.

Translation notes:

¹ - "I should have seen this coming..."

² - "You're here for me... time and time again..."

MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*

-Lance