Rika didn't show up the next day.
Not for class. Not for the final mural presentation. Not even when her name was called during roll.
I knew better than to panic. This was her, after all. The girl who ran when the spotlight got too bright. The girl who'd rather burn her own name than let someone else write it for her.
Still, I waited. Until the rooftop cleared. Until the faculty left. Until the last student's footsteps faded down the stairwell.
Only then did I climb the steps, alone, and find her where it all began.
Backed against the finished mural, eyes rimmed red, sketchbook torn in half on the floor.
She looked like she hadn't slept.
When she saw me, she didn't speak.
Just whispered:
"I ruined it."
[Trigger Event: "The Collapse" – Final Confrontation Initiated]
I stepped closer.
She didn't move.
"The mural?" I asked softly.
"Everything," she hissed. "The art. The trust. You."
Her voice cracked.
"I kissed you. I opened up. I let you in and now every time I look at this wall I see it—us. And I hate it. Because it's not just mine anymore."
She turned away, biting her lip until it bled.
"I wanted to keep control. And now I can't even keep my hands steady. Look at them—"
Her fingers were trembling. Stained with blue and violet.
"They won't stop shaking."
I reached for her hand.
She pulled it away.
"I'm not finished," she said, breath sharp.
"I let you in too far. And now I'm terrified."
"Of what?"
"That I'll need you."
Silence.
"That I'll expect you."
She choked out a bitter laugh.
"And when you disappear—like everything else—I won't know how to survive it."
[System Alert: Heroine Trauma Memory Unlocked – Loss History Revealed]
[Supplemental Note: Rika's mentor passed during her first recovery. Abandonment fixation confirmed.]
"I'm not leaving," I said.
She looked up. Eyes raw. "They all said that."
"I'm not them."
She laughed again, but softer this time.
Then: "I drew you last night."
"You've drawn me a lot."
"This one was different."
She knelt, pulled a second sketchpad from her bag. Opened it to the middle page.
It was me—standing before a sea of unfinished canvases. No face. No colors. Just shadow.
But every single canvas had one thing in common:
A silhouette of her.
In every pose.
Crying. Laughing. Collapsing.
Bleeding.
"I keep drawing myself into your story," she said. "And I don't know how to stop."
"Maybe you don't need to."
She looked up.
And for the first time, truly cracked.
"I'm not good," she whispered. "I'm selfish. I shut people out. I make them chase me. I sabotage the things I care about. I hurt people—"
"You didn't hurt me."
"I will."
"No, you won't."
"You don't know that—"
"I do."
I stepped forward.
And this time, when I reached for her, she didn't pull away.
I held her trembling fingers.
"Rika," I said quietly, "you don't have to fix everything before you let someone love you."
[System Milestone Triggered: Emotional Submission Completed]
[Route Final Phase Engaged – Awaiting Player Response]
"I don't know how to do this," she said.
"You don't have to."
"But I want to."
Her voice broke on that last word. Like it had taken everything in her not to say it sooner.
"I want this. I want you. I want to stop hiding in metaphors and sketches. I want to live."
Her voice dropped to a whisper:
"Will you let me?"
Player Response Selected: "Only if I can do it with you."
She sobbed once.
And then kissed me.
Hard. Desperate. Like she was exorcising every ghost that ever haunted her lips.
When we broke, she gasped, "I love you," like she was terrified of the words—but more terrified of not saying them.
"I love you too."
[System Log Updated: Rika Tachibana – Emotional Sync Complete]
[Heroine Flag Achieved: "True Affection – No Mask"]
[Bond Locked: Permanent Route Integration – Heroine Status: Committed]
[Unlocked Perk: "Rika's Canvas" – Heroine Will Now Intervene with Emotional Influence on Other Routes]
We lay on the rooftop floor later, side by side, watching the mural dry.
It was beautiful.
It was messy.
It was ours.
And somewhere, behind all the color, was the girl who had once been afraid to be seen.
Now, she was looking at me without fear.
"I'm still scared," she admitted.
"I'll be scared with you."
She laughed. For real this time.
Then she took my hand and placed it over her heart.
"You can stay," she said.
"But only if you want the whole picture. Cracks and all."
"I wouldn't want it any other way."