[Talk - Honoka]

Honoka sat at a table by herself, clinging tightly to her cane. Her face was so pale that I thought she might pass out if I looked at her the wrong way.

Timaeus

Y-you holding up okay?

Honoka

Oh… yes, dear, don’t worry. Just gotta… hoo… sit down for a bit.

Timaeus

…Yeah.

I sat down next to her, and she rested her cane on the table.

Honoka

…This is all my fault.

Timaeus

No no no don’t blame yourself–

Honoka

–Isn’t it, though? I organized the secrets meeting yesterday, and the movie night last night, and that made MONO-9000 take the food away, and…

Well, when she put it like that… But that still wasn’t any way to think about my friends!

Timaeus

Y-you didn’t do anything wrong. You were just… trying to make the best of a terrible situation, right? Same as the rest of us.

Honoka

Maybe so… but that doesn’t change what happened, does it?

Honoka

And now… s-someone’s dead… If I’d chosen a different movie, maybe she wouldn’t have gotten bored and left, or I could’ve told her to stay in the room, o-or I could’ve moved the start time earlier or later or–

Timaeus

Honoka, it’s not your fault! No one could’ve seen this coming! We– we just have to… figure out what happened, and stop it from happening again, right?

She blinked in surprise– oops, had I raised my voice too loud? She didn’t seem like she was used to people talking back to her… But she shook her head and tried to regain some composure.

Honoka

…R-right. You’re right. I… we have to keep moving forward.

Honoka

I’m not being a very good leader, am I? Giving up so quickly… I’m sorry!

Timaeus

Given the circumstances? I think you’re doing alright.

Honoka

I-I’ll try my best! I just need a… a few more minutes…

Though she forced a smile, she looked more sickly than ever as she slumped down on the table. I left her to rest and headed back into the crowd– we would need all the strength we could muster to get through this trial.