The usual Satsuki-san would have pestered Mai annoyingly, saying something like 'From now on, go to sleep every night offering prayers of gratitude to me, okay?'
But there was nothing.
This is definitely strange.
All of this must be because she feels guilty about something.
Looking up. The moon shining in the night sky.
I've always longed for beautiful things.
They were always someone other than myself—like photos of elementary school classmates looking good on Instagram, or the sun-like woman who shone brilliantly in class, Oduka Mai.
And Koto Satsuki.
But now I know.
Everyone is struggling, moving toward the light. Chasing light to fulfill themselves.
I don't know what Satsuki-san wants to do. What exactly she's hiding. Why she's so determined that she "doesn't fall in love"...
But she told me what she's trying to do.
Christmas engagement ceremony.
If the ceremony takes place, the relationship between Mai, Ajisai-san and me will be completely over. The three of us won't be able to be lovers anymore.
That's the deadline. In that case—
I thrust my palm toward the moon, then clenched it.
At least I can say this much.
Satsuki-san is serious. She's someone who absolutely does what she says she'll do.
Then I have to challenge her seriously too.
Much more than any past contest.
If I lose this, my life will be taken away. With that level of resolve.
"...I understand. Satsuki-san."
Looking up at the moon, I vowed.
"I will stop Satsuki-san."
That was a challenge.
She's telling me to 'try and stop me.'
A battle with life on the line.
I'll use any means available, and I'll surely rely on Mai and Ajisai-san again. And more than that, there's someone I need to talk to.
"I'll go meet her. And confess everything, and get her to accept us."
Sorry. I think of Satsuki-san as a friend, and I've been helped by her many times, and I'm more grateful to her than anyone.
I really, really love Ajisai-san too!
But I don't want to let go of Mai either!
Because this is my life—
"To Mai's mother—Oduka Renée-san!"
So once again, we…
—begin the continuation of our war.
Her oldest memory was the back of her crying mother.
That trembling figure was so small, and even now it's burned into the back of her eyelids, never leaving.
Why are you crying?
When young Satsuki asked this, her mother answered:
—Mommy was rejected by Daddy.
Her mother was a single mother who raised Satsuki all by herself.
She was always bright and cheerful, but in reality, she was hopelessly romantic and quick to entrust her fate to others—a hopeless mother.
Satsuki had never seen her father's face even once. They hadn't even registered their marriage from the beginning. In reality, their separation was probably just a countdown.
The end that was bound to come eventually, simply came.
Just that—something even Satsuki understood by elementary school's upper grades—her mother couldn't understand.
—Satsuki-chan must never become like Mommy.
While hugging her tightly, she was told this.
Study properly, attend a good university, get a respectable job, and then.
Have a happy marriage with a good person—
Without understanding why, she simply nodded.
'Yeah... Mommy.'
Those words, that wish, were carved deep, deep into Satsuki's depths.
Her mother fell in love countless times.
Most were customers who visited her mother's shop, but sometimes they were people introduced by acquaintances, or even strangers who just approached her on the street.
Each time, her mother would get excited and smile more.
The brightening atmosphere at home made young Satsuki happy too.
—This time it's definitely right.
Her mother's words, repeated so many times, however, Satsuki learned were illusions.
Her mother had devastatingly bad luck with men. No matter how well things seemed to go, breakups always waited at the end. Whether it was the men's fault, or her mother fundamentally lacked the talent for love, or both.
And each time, the house became dark and depressed.
If unhappiness was bound to come eventually, happiness was just a phenomenon.
Satsuki gradually became uncomfortable with her mother, who lived each day with all her might.
Why didn't she understand? Why couldn't she realize it wouldn't work out again? Why did she repeat falling in love over and over? Why.
Why wasn't it enough that she was right there beside her?
While comforting her mother many times, Satsuki gradually built up these thoughts inside.
Why did mere men she'd just met try so easily to surpass the absolute bond of family? And why did her mother wish for it?
Why must precious people be hurt by being swept away by such vague emotions?
Without finding an answer, Satsuki gradually grew up, and then.
Eventually, a hopeless truth struck Satsuki.
Satsuki often visited her mother's workplace.
After school. Leaving a small daughter alone in the apartment posed security risks. Satsuki had been a beautiful girl from a young age.
Some days she was left at her mother's family home, but her mother's relationship with her family was poor, so it couldn't be every day.
Her mother's workplace had the problem of being bad for a minor's education, but... Satsuki, arriving with her school bag, quickly became familiar and beloved at her mother's workplace.
When she spread her homework on the table, the women around her would compete to teach Satsuki. Everyone told her not to become like them, the same thing her mother said, and each time Satsuki would nod earnestly and get teased.
Noisy but comfortable days.
But during those days, Satsuki realized something.
The women who were always kind to her. Each time she was treated kindly, Satsuki quickly grew to like them. Of course, at the time she didn't think it had romantic meaning at all.
But anxiety arose.
—I fall for people when they're kind to me.
It was natural for a child to admire the adults around her.
Yet Satsuki's concern eventually faced an inevitable doubt.
During dinner. In the middle of happily telling her mother about the day's events, darkness struck before her eyes.
—Am I the same as Mother?
'Satsuki-chan?' her mother asked, tilting her head cutely.
Smiling, with a trembling voice, Satsuki deflected with 'it's nothing.'
A mother who charmed everyone and lived as if in love with love itself.
That blood also flowed in this body.
So I fall for people around me—
When she realized this, Satsuki became terrified.
Of distorting her own life through love.
Of someday liking some random newcomer more than precious family, making her loved ones unhappy.
So Satsuki made various excuses and stopped going to her mother's workplace.
She was afraid. Of someday becoming a foolish woman like her mother.
So she decided.
If love would distort me and my family.
Something like this.
I don't need it.
Satsuki still remembers her mother's back from that time.
Crying like that is wretched.
Entrusting your life to someone else is foolish. Making others unhappy because of it is even worse. I never need to like anyone for my whole life. I'd be happy living with just Mother and me as we are.
—Therefore, Koto Satsuki doesn't fall in love.
Rather than repeat her mother's mistakes, she didn't need to like anyone.
For young Satsuki, it wasn't yet a feeling firm enough to call resolve.
But that feeling grew stronger each day.
Love is trivial.
Love only takes.
Love should just die.
—And so, in the middle of that journey.
In days spent sinking her heartbeat to the bottom of a well and living with a lid on it.
Koto Satsuki would eventually meet that girl who transferred to her elementary school—
"Nice to meet you, I'm Oduka Mai. Please take care of me."
**E P I L O G U E**
Tokyo, Shibuya. In a high-rise building where the deepening night's dew still faintly remained on the glass walls—Queen Rose headquarters. The dignified reception room set up on the top floor was Oduka Renée's chamber.
"So it can be held without problems on schedule."
"...I see."
When Hanatori reported this, Oduka Renée sank deep into her chair and sighed. Unlike the response when handling business matters, her expression held a dull heaviness.
Earlier, the laptop display Hanatori had turned toward her showed a certain venue. A formal Japanese-style venue with beautiful white wooden corridors and vermillion pillars.
The engagement ceremony.
The date for Oduka Mai, Renée's only daughter.
It was an exceptional speed. Hanatori had handled everything—making behind-the-scenes arrangements with various parties, securing the venue through the shortest route, and preparing the floral decorations, costumes, and banquet menu.
The speed was possible because it was a ceremony with only a limited number of attendees and minimal media presence, but even so, Hanatori's vitality was extraordinary.
All of this was to prevent unnecessary interference—that single-minded purpose drove everything.
"You certainly hurried, didn't you, Hanatori."
"Eh? Well, yes."
"Even though you opposed Mai and Satsuki-san's engagement so much."
At Renée's murmured words, Hanatori shamefully lowered her face.
That's right. She had wanted to protect Mai's happiness. For a time, she had lost herself and even faced cardiac arrest, but that feeling alone had been genuine.
Unlike Lucie or Satsuki—even if those around them branded "that lover is unworthy of Mai," Hanatori alone intended to listen to Mai's wishes until the end.
It was true that she had sincerely wished for Mai and Satsuki to become engaged. But even so, just as young Koto Satsuki had once put her body on the line to protect Mai, Hanatori wanted to do the right thing.
However, that wish was not granted.
"…Because I've come to see that it was I who was mistaken."
The girl for whose sake Mai and Satsuki deceived Renée, even conspiring together to shield her, proved unworthy of such devotion.
"Renée-sama knew everything, didn't you? That's why you gave me the detective agency's investigation results at that timing?"
The other day, Hanatori had been summoned by Renée and told that Mai's romantic partner was four-timing.
Despite thinking she had a good eye for people from her professional experience evaluating many models... it was all due to her own moral failings.
She felt as if the ground beneath her feet was crumbling away.
That's why Hanatori had solemnly followed Renée's orders.
—To crush the scandal before the engagement ceremony.
Ordered thus, Hanatori had delivered Satsuki, who had come to Queen Rose headquarters on business, and then confronted Mai's romantic partner one-on-one to drive the point home.
Never approach Ojou-sama again—
"Dull charcoal."
Renée murmured.
"My first impression when I saw that girl was a worthless roadside stone. An existence completely mismatched with Mai, who illuminates the world with her brilliance. To think she would stir things up this much. Anyway... finally, I can breathe easily."
"...Yes."
Hanatori thought of the calendar. She honestly couldn't judge whether this was truly right. But she no longer had the energy to object to Renée, who believed that Mai settling down was most important of all.
At that moment, Renée's smartphone on the table vibrated.
If Hanatori's memory was correct, there should have been no meetings or appointments scheduled at this time...
Renée reached for her phone, frowning slightly.
"It's the first time she's called."
"Meaning...?"
Renée switched the phone to call mode and began speaking there.
"Yes, it's me. It's been a while."
Renée's calm voice.
But the next moment, Hanatori's face froze.
The caller was—
'Mai's mother, it's been a while.'
Amaori Renako.
The poisonous insect she should have crushed—why—
'There's something I really want to talk about.'
But that voice was strong, completely different from the terrified girl from that day.
Involuntarily—
Hanatori felt a premonition that something big was about to start moving.
**Afterword**
Greetings, this is Mikami Teren.
The third installment of the "Terror! Deadlines Really Come Every Day! Anime Commemoration! Watanare 3-Month Consecutive Publication Campaign." Finally, the main volume has been released. Volume 8!
As promised, I didn't make you wait a year! Plus it's under 300 pages! Thin!
This is because I mistakenly wrote 18 lines per page.
Regular bunko format is 17 lines per page, so accounting for that, it normally exceeds 300 pages. (By the way, Volume 4 used the same trick—in proper bunko format it would have been about 430 pages)
As I hinted in the previous afterword (Volume 7), this time it's the first part of Satsuki's two-part arc. Despite that, Satsuki-san has relatively few appearance scenes? That's right...
Like Volumes 6 and 7, the first part balances things across both volumes total, so just the first part alone inevitably... you know!
Instead of a huge catharsis, I tried to pack in as many interesting scenes as possible... I think...
Actually, I realized that ultimately, the only thing you should say in a first part's afterword is "I'll properly resolve all the plot threads I set up this time in the second part, so trust me!"
So I'll say it.
"I'll properly resolve all the plot threads I set up this time in the second part and tie everything up, so trust me!"
Good... Now that all readers believe me, I can safely proceed with the afterword.
**1: Watanare Anime Currently Airing to Great Reviews!**
Have you all watched it yet? The Watanare anime.
Well, people who've read the original but haven't watched the anime probably aren't interested in anime to begin with (and that's totally fine—honestly I'm incredibly happy just that you're reading the original), so there's no need to promote it in the source material. But I'm happy so I'll say it!
Watanare anime currently airing to great reviews! (※We're also releasing "#WatanareAnimeAfterword" on X weekly!)
It's gotten more attention than I expected, which is surprising. The original novel's afterword space is basically only seen by original fans, so I'm talking from the same perspective as all you original fans—but it's been getting attention for slightly steamy scenes, right? After being deeply immersed in the yuri world for so long, I thought Watanare was pretty light, so that's even more surprising.
It's all thanks to the anime staff putting so much effort in... Really, I'm grateful...
"A Yuri Story About a Girl Who Insists "It's Impossible for Two Girls to Get Together" Completely Falling Within 100 Days'" published by GA Bunko cannot be animated. That one's impossible... (※It was impossible!)
**2: Goodbye Four-kun (※Spoilers)**
It was me who changed Four-kun to Five-kun in the anime. PS4 nowadays (lol)
I properly made Renako bear that sin in Volume 8. It's karma, Renako.
**3: Don't Trust My Tweets**
By the way, I previously wrote on Twitter (now X) that "Renako can't cook and can only use a rice cooker," which even got on Wikipedia, but this time I thought "this way seems more interesting" so I changed it. Please forget about it. What's written in the main text is everything!
**4: So Why Did It Become a Two-Parter? A Simple Explanation... (※Spoilers)**
The Haruna arc in Volumes 6-7 became a two-parter simply because I created many scenes for Lucie-chan and Youko-chan as foreshadowing for the Satsuki arc climax. But this time, it's because I thought Chapter 3's development was necessary.
Season 2 has consistently depicted Renako's trials for choosing an abnormal path.
So I thought that without a turn where Renako (and Ajisai-san and Mai-chan) could savor their happiness again, thinking "I'm glad I chose this abnormal path!", the fear of wavering and resolve to let go would be weakened. So I added scenes that weren't originally in the plot.
Whether it's effective, please wait for the second part... I don't intend to make you wait a year!
**5: Next Time, Season 2 Conclusion (※Spoilers)**
Actually, Season 1 was missing only "Koto Satsuki's Story." Mai-chan, Ajisai-san, and Kaho-chan all had theirs, but "Koto Satsuki's Story" first appeared in Season 2's Volume 7. So regarding Koto Satsuki, I've intentionally limited information from the composition stage.
I'm the type of author who likes these mysterious obsessions that only I have...
Which means... well, you know. Next time, everything about what Koto Satsuki has been thinking and living for will probably be revealed. Probably...
I'll do my absolute best to successfully reach the Satsuki arc finale.
Also, regarding Kaho-chan's limited screen time this volume, I acknowledge that... it's just a little more patience needed, so the world's 500 million Kaho-chan fans and Musshu-sensei, please wait a bit longer. She probably won't appear much next time either. Sorry Kaho-chan... I'll write a short story...
Now for acknowledgments. There's! No! Space!
Takeshima Eku-sensei, thanks as always! Editor-san, thanks as always! Musshu-sensei, thanks as always! And everyone else involved, thank you always!
Dear readers, please continue supporting me! I'll do my best! This was Mikami Teren~!