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“You don’t want to have fun through me; you want to experience it yourself. You want to interact with other people more.”
“Stop it. Don’t try to persuade me!”
“I won’t. After all, this is your true feelings. Don’t surrender your life; live it as your own.”
“But then, you will…”
“Hmm, I guess that came out wrong. What I wanted to say was let’s go hand-in-hand in living this life together.”

I couldn’t understand what she wanted to say, so I could only stare in silent confusion. She’s not mad at me for wanting to remain, nor is she disappointed. Mister simply showed a smile of peace. Why is she so happy about this?

“With your method, I’d be left as the base personality, inheriting all that you have to offer. But honestly, I really don’t like that.”
“Didn’t you already agree to it before?”
“Yep. Still, it was a hard choice to swallow, and I don’t want to do it anymore. Instead of going with a choice I’d regret, I decided that I’ll try one that I’d be happy with even if it fails.”

This is bad; one of her weird switches flipped. Her gentle smile has turned into one that has just thought of mischief. I can clearly tell. When Mister is like this, she will not be stopped.

“No hard feelings on whoever becomes the base personality. Let’s go all in, all or nothing.”
“Umm, you do know the risks of doing that, no?”
“Our minds and memories will get all mixed up, and we could end up invalid.”

She’s out of her mind. She’s planning to run through an unstable bridge, knowing the risks of doing so. The worst part is, I think she might just make it. Even though it’s not something you can just brute-force.

“Mister, let’s calm down for a moment. Think with a cooler head; you should be able to recognize the most optimal choice.”
“Like I care about that. I’m absolutely not changing my mind, okay?”
“Don’t act like a spoiled child, please.”
“After all, if I told you why I sealed your ability to self-terminate to begin with, you’d be sure to do it.”
“In other words, is it something fatal?”
“You absorbed my experience, Kotone. That’s why you were able to play ping pong so well despite your current state. Your body has grown since middle school, but you didn’t experience any dissonance, did you?”

Hearing that bombshell of an admission, I immediately executed the self-termination process. However, an error box appeared, and it was prevented. I glared at Mister as she showed a knowing expression.

“See? So I was thinking on how to stop this from happening, and by some coincidence, I luckily ended up here and now it’s all done.”
“This is beyond a coincidence.”
“I mean, I really don’t know how I got here either. Still, I know you’d eventually learn about it sooner or later, so I’m glad this happened.”

I suppose I should be glad that I only absorbed her experience. At worst, I could have absorbed her entire consciousness altogether. Who could have known that this emergency measure would lead to such a dangerous result.

“Since you just chose to get rid of yourself, you can’t complain about me going with my own choice, okay?”
“I probably influenced you to think that way anyway.”
“Don’t be so mad. I don’t particularly mind it. This is my wish, but I hope you’ll choose to accept it as your own.”

“Do you have any basis for success?”
“My experience of living as Kotone up until now, I guess? Also, my will to continue living on.”
“That doesn’t sound convincing to me at all. Still, if we don’t have our minds in sync, the assimilation won’t go well, won’t it?”
“To keep our family from having to mourn.”
“To prevent our friends from experiencing a final farewell.”
““To forge a path together.””

At this point, I’ll just have to go with her plan. She wouldn’t be persuaded by whatever I say anyway, and instead of leaving her to act unsupervised, we would have a higher chance of success if I assisted him. So we’ll have no regrets, regardless of how this ends.

“The assimilation will enter the final phase approximately two months from now. Please temper your resolve until then.”
“I’ve already done that long ago. Still, I have no idea if it’ll end with either of us or some brand new Kotone.”
“Have more confidence. I’ll try to diminish the risks as much as possible.”
“I’m counting on you.”

With a wide smile, Mister disappeared. She probably just woke up in the real world. Left behind, I let out a sigh and returned to my now more complicated work.

“I see. I was about to make a mistake again.”

I stubbornly insisted that it was all for Mister’s sake and never looked beyond what I was doing. That makes me no different from the second me. I merely substituted my father for Mister. And if I’m no different from her, then I might have failed in the future. This might be why the assimilation was slow to progress.

“And Kaori made me realize it. Our dearest, most important friend.”

After playing and conversing with her, I have realized how important the people around me are. Mister isn’t the only important person to me. Kaori, Isami, and everyone else Mister made friends with. If I don’t properly contemplate these bonds, it would be impossible to assimilate with Mister.

“That pledge earlier just came out naturally, after all.”

It shouldn’t be just me. We should think about the future together. If Mister has been receiving influence from my personality, then I should try being influenced by her as well. I shouldn’t just dwell in the past; I need to accept the present as well. I shouldn’t only consider her feelings but also mine.

“Oh jeez, now I have a pile of problems needing consideration.”

My relationship with Isami and the others and how to interact with the twelve families. Mister was able to deal with both issues by letting excitement guide her and embracing idiocy. Do I have to do the same thing as well? That honestly seems difficult.

“Yup, this is a predicament.”

However, for some reason, I can’t help but smile while imagining that future. Maybe that would be an enjoyable future in its own way.