The art room after school was dyed orange by the late afternoon sun streaming through the windows. It was quiet. From the hallway outside, the faint shouts of club activities drifted in. But inside this room alone, time seemed to flow gently. "[excited]Ugh, hands are so hard after all!" Yuuki stretched with a groan from her wheelchair. She tapped her own head lightly and stared intently at the large canvas before her. On that pure white canvas, standing 1.8 meters tall, the underdrawing of a town that Silica had sketched spread faintly across the surface. The school building, the row of cherry trees, the zelkova tree in the courtyard. The faint pencil lines glittered subtly depending on how the light hit them. "[worried]Hands, you said?" Silica set down her thin brush and turned toward Yuuki. Her black hair, reaching down to her waist, swayed softly. Her large, almond-shaped eyes seemed just a little tense today. "[excited]Yeah! I want to put in a picture of people holding hands right here, but I just can't get the feeling of the fingers right!" Yuuki pointed at a white part of the canvas where nothing had been painted yet. "[serious]I've never really drawn people's hands properly before. I practiced looking at books and stuff, but something's off. They end up looking too bony, I guess." "[gentle]Hand sketches are difficult, aren't they." Silica said that and gave a small nod. That was when it happened. Clatter. The art room door opened. "[bright]I brought refreshments for you two." Asuna stood there holding a tray. On the silver tray were three steaming mugs. A soft, sweet aroma spread throughout the room. "[surprised]Whoa, Asuna! Hot milk!" "[gentle]With honey. I thought it might be good for your tired bodies." Asuna placed a mug beside Yuuki, then gently offered one toward Silica as well. "[gentle]Silica, you should take a little break too." "[quiet]Thank you very much." Silica accepted the mug with her gaze slightly downcast. Her fingers were trembling faintly—probably not just imagination. Asuna peeked at Yuuki's half-finished sketch and let out a soft laugh. "[laughing]If you're worried about hands, why not ask Kirito-kun to teach you? That guy's really good at hand sketches." At those words, Yuuki's eyes lit up brightly. "[excited]Wait, really!? Kirito-san is good at drawing too! He really is amazing!" Then, Yuuki turned her round, brown eyes straight toward Asuna and continued innocently. "[bright]Kirito-san's hands are really warm, aren't they! I got to hold his hand just a little the other day, and it was so big, and how do I put it, it made me feel so safe—" Clatter. A small sound rang out. It was the sound of a thin brush slipping from Silica's hand and rolling away. "......" Silica was frozen. As if she had become a statue of ice, she didn't move a muscle. (Kirito-san's... hands...) Inside her head, memories of SAO burst open. That day. Deep in the forest, attacked by monsters. Just when she thought it was over, Kirito appeared, his pitch-black coat fluttering. Without a word, he simply reached out his hand. (Are you okay?) (Kirito-san...) That hand, even now remembering it, was so incredibly warm. (But... why does Yuuki-san know about that?) Deep in her chest, something began to boil. Something black and hot. "[innocent]Don't you think so too, Asuna? Kirito-san's hands are kind of special, right?" In that instant, something inside Silica snapped. CRASH!!! "[surprised]Wah!" "[scared]Eek!" Silica's elbow had knocked over the tubes of acrylic paint lined up on the desk with full force. Red. Blue. Yellow. The three colors of paint spread thickly across the desk. The glistening puddles of paint mixed together in the blink of an eye, turning into a murky, dark brown. "[crying]Ah... aah...!" "[scared]Silica, are you okay!?" "[scared]A rag, where's a rag!" All three moved at once, and the small art room erupted into a frantic commotion. "[crying]I-I'm sorry! I'll clean it up right away!" Silica, her face deathly pale, grabbed a rag with her trembling hands. She scrubbed the desk vigorously, but the paint soaked into the rag in no time, staining her fingers pitch black. (It wasn't on purpose.) (It wasn't on purpose, but—) Her hands were shaking. (What am I doing?) Silica desperately fought back the tears threatening to well up at the corners of her eyes. "[laughing]Ah, but look! The red and blue mixed together and made purple! That's kind of pretty in its own way!" Yuuki pointed at the paint-covered rag and laughed without a care in the world. "[gentle]......" Silica couldn't say anything. She couldn't even lift her face. (This girl is so bright.) (She doesn't even notice the mess inside my heart at all.) (And that, more than anything—) Deep in her chest, an unpleasant feeling swirled round and round. Jealousy. And then, an unbearable self-loathing. (I'm... jealous of someone like her.) (I'm the worst.) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The cleanup was finally over. The floor was still a little damp, but the puddles of paint were gone. Yet, the atmosphere in the room remained somehow awkward. "[excited]Alright! Let's pull ourselves together and start fresh! I'm gonna stand up for a bit and look at the whole thing!" Saying that, Yuuki placed her hands on the armrests of her wheelchair and tried to stand up with vigor. —In that moment. The color drained from Yuuki's face. "...Ah." The world tilted violently. She tried to brace herself against the wall but lost her balance. Her hand hit the easel propping up the canvas. Thud. The easel tilted. The massive canvas, 1.8 meters tall, came crashing down toward Yuuki as if in slow motion. "[scared]Look out—!" Before she knew it, Silica had thrown herself forward. THUD!!! The enormous canvas, Yuuki, and Silica—all three collapsed onto the floor in a heap. Silica's back and arms had shielded Yuuki's head from a direct hit by the canvas. But in exchange, the weight of the canvas pressed down on her slender body. "...Ugh..." Wincing in pain, Silica nevertheless held Yuuki's shoulders firmly. (Why did I jump in?) (Even though I resent her. Even though I'm jealous.) Yuuki's body was far lighter than she had imagined. So thin her bones seemed about to break, her pale skin was shockingly cold. "[whispers]...Silica." Yuuki opened her unfocused eyes. Perhaps still dizzy, her gaze wasn't fixed on anything. But even so. "[gentle]...Warm." Yuuki murmured softly in Silica's arms. "......" Silica's chest tightened painfully. (Warm, she said.) (I am...?) "[worried]Are you okay!? Did you hit anything!?" Before she knew it, Silica was shouting. As if to shake off her own emotions, she raised her voice. "[worried]Yuuki! Silica!" Bang! The door slammed open as Asuna, who had gone to the nurse's office, came rushing back. Her honey-colored hair disheveled, Asuna lifted the fallen canvas and helped Yuuki up. Her movements were practiced, familiar by now. "[worried]I'm sorry, let's go to the nurse's office right away. Silica, are you hurt too? Thank you, thank you so much." "[quiet]...No." Silica stood up and took a step back. (I ended up saving her.) (It's not like I wanted to help.) Before her eyes, Asuna was seating Yuuki back in her wheelchair. The grateful gaze Yuuki had directed at me just moments ago was now focused solely on Asuna. (Ah, I see.) (Yuuki-san is always like this.) (Protected by everyone.) Silica stared at her own hands. The hands that had been supporting Yuuki's shoulders until just now. A faint, cold sensation still lingered. (I'm not protected by anyone.) Loneliness spread slowly through her chest. "[worried]Silica, I'll definitely come back to the clubroom later! Can I ask you to stay here until then?" At Asuna's voice, Silica looked up with a start. "[weak]Y-yes..." That was all she could manage to say. The rattling sound of the wheelchair faded into the distance. Silica was left alone in the art room. The fallen canvas. The scattered paint tubes. And the three mugs, still faintly steaming. Silica slowly crouched down on the floor. With trembling hands, she set the fallen canvas upright again. Fortunately, it wasn't torn. (Thank goodness.) A part of her genuinely felt that way from the bottom of her heart. (I'm glad Yuuki-san wasn't hurt.) (But—) Silica stared intently at the white part of the canvas. The place where Yuuki had said she wanted to draw "people holding hands." Still, nothing was drawn there. (What should I paint here?) In the end, she didn't pick up her brush. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The nurse's office smelled of disinfectant. On a bed surrounded by white curtains, Yuuki lay limply. "[serious]Your blood pressure has dropped considerably. Your anemia is progressing too." The school nurse, Tomura Sae, said quietly as she removed the blood pressure cuff. At 38 years old, she stared at the medical chart with serious eyes behind her glasses. "[worried]Sensei..." "[serious]I've looked at your records, and this is the third time just this week. The day before yesterday in the hallway, yesterday in the cafeteria. And today in the art room." Yuuki gripped the sheets tightly. "[weak]But the culture festival is..." "[cold]Yuuki-san." Tomura looked straight at Yuuki. Her voice was gentle, but it carried an undeniable firmness. "[serious]You understand which is more important—your painting or your life, don't you? If this happens again, I will report it to the hospital and issue a recommendation for medical leave." "[sad]......" Yuuki's large brown eyes grew moist with tears. Asuna silently held Yuuki's hand. Cold fingers. Thin fingers that seemed like they might break at any moment. "[gentle]Yuuki, I'll definitely protect you." Asuna wrapped Yuuki's hand in both of hers. Her honey-colored hair spread softly across the white sheets. "[gentle]Don't push yourself alone. When it's hard, tell me properly. Kirito-kun is worried too." "[crying]...Okay." Yuuki gave a small nod. Tears she could no longer hold back streamed down her cheeks, leaving dark stains on the pillow. —Watching this scene through the glass window of the hallway was a single shadow. It was Silica. She had come to check on the situation in the nurse's office. But she couldn't muster the courage to open the door. The figures of the two visible through the glass. Asuna holding Yuuki's hand preciously, as if it were a treasure. Yuuki crying, yet leaning against Asuna as if reassured. (Asuna-san said she would protect Yuuki-san.) The pain piercing her chest was like a sharp blade. (No one has ever said that kind of thing to me.) Not in SAO. Not in reality. Kirito-san was always far away, never turning back to look at me. (Being alone was normal.) (Alone, unprotected by anyone.) Silica bit her lip tightly. No tears came. But her heart felt like it was about to burst. She turned around and ran down the hallway. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The schoolyard in the evening was chilly and cold. Yuuki, who had taken a nap in the nurse's office, had recovered a little energy. Asuna pushed her wheelchair, and they made their way to the row of cherry trees. "[quiet]Asuna, I'm sorry about earlier." "[surprised]For what?" "[sad]...I made you worry." The branches of the cherry trees, their buds still hard and closed, swayed in the evening breeze. Asuna crouched down in front of Yuuki and looked straight into her eyes. "[serious]Yuuki, be honest with me. Tell me when it's hard." "[whispers]...I feel bad relying only on you, Asuna." Yuuki looked down and stared at her own fingers. "[sad]You have your own time to spend with Kirito-san. But because I'm always like this..." "[gentle]Saying things like that is forbidden." Asuna smiled. But tears were welling up in her eyes. Yuuki, drawn in by the mood, made a face that was somewhere between crying and laughing. "[whispers]Then, I hav