[Video public]

[helenchanted]

Ahh...uh...

[Miki is trying to keep a straight face but this is harder than she thought.]

...umm I think that Minami is gone. W-well no. Not 'I think'. I know she's gone since her room is occupied by someone else, so I guess she returned to our world...

[Her best friend is gone but she...she doesn't think she could leave herself just yet. Not with what she's gained here.]

I kinda need to clear my mind a bit...

Anyone want to do something?

Comments

[helenchanted]

They are.

[The next few pages look like life in the mansion; the Sanadas were no doubt rich for having planned to adopt both of them at such an older age. There's sometimes utterly pointless shots of just pieces of her room, or pictures of much younger self taking a photo via a mirror.

Then it slowly starts inching school life...and a surprising amount of Shinjiro photographs.

He's smiling. Or at least compared to how he is now for the most part, smiling a lot.]

[greatseal]

These are good pictures. Have you shown them to him yet?

[considering they still exist, maybe she hasn't...]

[helenchanted]

Not yet.

[But from her tone of voice, she's go some sort of plan, and it'll be forthcoming soon.]

[greatseal]

You definitely should. They're worth sharing. Show them to Akihiko-senpai, too.

[helenchanted]

[She just laughs.]

Actually I want to make copies for the both of them. [She looks down at her pile.] well...just a selection.

[Because the 'put stuff on Shinji while he's sleeping and see what I can get away with' has a little to many pages of trophy collection. On the other hand, if you wanted to see how deep of a sleeper he was...]

[greatseal]

[She.... has first-hand knowledge of that already, but that might be too much information.] I'm sure they'll appreciate it!

Wow I thought I had tagged this.

[helenchanted]

[She grins.]

Exactly! I want them to see what they both did for me...

[And before she gets too emotional, she lets Minako turn the pages again. It appears they've entered the SEES phase...part one. It's just her, Mitsuru, and Shinjiro. Well mostly both of them since Miki is taking the pictures.]

[greatseal]

It must have been pretty different with just you three... Are you very close to Mitsuru-senpai? She relies on Akihiko-senpai a lot.

[helenchanted]

Hmm...I'd say not as close to her as I am to Minami or Aigis, but Mitsuru-senpai has always been a mentor figure to me. [She laughs.] I think I relied on her more than she did on me...

...but I did repair her bike and cook her meals when I had the time. Nothing as fancy as the store-bought ones she'd bring to the dorms once in a while, but at least they were made with fresh produce, or as Jiji would say...

[Here she purposefully lowers her voice to try and match his.]

None of that crap they pack in there.

[She stops speaking for a while and thinks before speaking again. There much she'd like to know about Minako's world too...]

So she relied on Aki huh....are they dating?

[Miki why is this the first major question you ask about Minako's world, that's terrible.]

[greatseal]

[Minako just laughs, a little...] I asked her something like that once too, but it didn't seem like she'd even thought about it... Maybe they're a little too alike, in some ways?

[Not that she wouldn't ship it, but... Somehow, she doubts Akihiko would be able to notice even if Mitsuru did have feelings for him.]

[helenchanted]

[YOU GO GIRL Miki is enjoying the fact that you just went and asked her outright.] Ha ha ha! That reply sounds so much like her...a true professional in all aspects of her life!

Wait so...Aki is that bad with dating?

[greatseal]

[Should she really be telling his sister things like this? Well... it's not exactly uncommon knowledge back home, and if anyone needs an intervention, it's Akihiko.]

There's a group of girls that likes to follow him around, but he doesn't know how to handle them at all. Half the time I'm not sure he gets what they're really after.

[helenchanted]

[She looks at Minako for a few seconds, her mouth frozen in a disbelief before she bursted out laughing.]

Ha ha...I-I'm sorry. It's just that I had a similar problem too...although I knew exactly what they wanted. It must drive the girls up the wall that Aki doesn't have a clue...although it's their own fault for not telling him anything outright!

[You have no idea how dense your brother is about love Miki. NO idea. Yet the image of her brother being surrounded by all these girls and not understanding why is just too amusing...yet she suddenly shifts gaze and her voice is much more serious. Almost...annoyed.]

Of course, that entirely depends if were they doing it just because he was popular, or because they actually liked him....

[Uh-oh that's pure sibling worry coupled with her own bad memories.]

[greatseal]

Well, I don't think he talked to any of them enough for them to really know him... Although, some probably had real crushes. [And sometimes she just felt bad for the girls, considering Akihiko never even bothered to learn the names even of the most persistent ones.] But, you had fans following you around?

[...Were they boys or girls?]

[helenchanted]

...That bad huh. [Wow she had a lot of work to do, then.]

Yeah. I didn't call them fans before either. I guess when you start winning tournaments you attract a lot of crowds...the good and the bad. I have to admit...all the attention did get to me. I wanted to be everyone's friend...I never had any as a child...to be surrounded by so many and be the popular girl at school...

[She shakes her head again, grinning. The memory isn't as painful telling her now.]

Fortunately, Minami grounded my feet down to the earth again and helped me realize that a hundred false friendships were not worth a single true friend. I purposefully lost a tournament that year to see what would happened. She was right; the minute I wasn't the best, they don't look at you the same. A guy I had liked just wasn't around anymore...

[Miki looked at Minako again before speaking.]

I won back all my titles a few months after, of course. The fans came back, but that's all they were to me then...fans.

[greatseal]

Popularity isn't bad, but not if you're going too far just to attain it...

[She's guessing there's more to Miki's story, but there's no point making her recount a bad time when she gets the gist of the story already.] I'm glad you and Minami are such good friends.

[helenchanted]

Yeah exactly! I think I just wanted to be everyone's friend a little too much...

[She smiles.]

Well I suppose all the Arisato's are like that!

[helenchanted]

...well most of them.

[Strega...]

[greatseal]

Minato might have lost sight of it for a while, but he's a good person.

[Sorry Miki, but she'll defend her sibling forever...

or at least until she actually gets to meet that version.]